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PROVO — A Pleasant Grove man has been charged with hitting and killing an 80-year-old man crossing the road in Provo.
Jason Wayne Phillips, 42, was charged Friday in 4th District Court with negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, a second-degree felony.
On Dec. 15, Mario Valer, 80, was walking from his Provo home to the bus stop about 6:10 p.m. when he started crossing the street at 900 South and 120 West. He "was about halfway across when he was struck by the right front side of a Chevy truck driven by the (Phillips). (Valer) died of his injuries at the scene," according to charging documents.
Phillips claimed Valer "had stepped into the street in front of him from his right" but "video shows that (Valer) had started crossing the street from the other side and would have been coming from the defendant's left. There were no skid or brake marks at the scene," the charges state.
Phillips told police he was just at the gym and had not been drinking, "but officers noted an odor of alcohol and that defendant had glossy, red eyes. (Phillips) refused to perform field sobriety tests and refused a voluntary blood draw. A warrant was obtained," according to the charges.
The results of the blood test were pending as of Friday, but a breath test showed Phillips' blood-alcohol level at .09% three hours after the crash, the charges allege.
