Kanab police chief pleads guilty after hitting pedestrian

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The Kanab police chief has entered a guilty plea following an auto-pedestrian crash last year involving his city-owned vehicle.

Thomas Cram, 62, entered the plea last week in Kanab City Justice Court and paid a $155 fine, according to online court records. It's a plea in abeyance, meaning if Cram doesn't violate any laws over the next three months, the case will be dismissed.

Cram was cited last month with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, which is an infraction.

This came after Utah Highway Patrol said he hit a 58-year-old man while driving his city-owned F-150 police vehicle the morning of Nov. 18. The crash happened at the intersection of 300 South and 100 East in Kanab and was captured on video.

The man was in a crosswalk at the time and was seriously injured, officials said. Cram remained on duty after the incident.

The case was referred to the Garfield County Attorney's Office, which filed the infraction against Cram.

Asked for comment on the resolution of his case, Cram in an email pointed out that "traffic accidents happen every day all over the state." He noted he has worked in law enforcement more than 40 years, and he criticized KSL TV for "trashing on good police officers for no reason."

"We are human beings just like you. We make minor mistakes just like you," Cram wrote. "This was a traffic accident nothing more. It was a traffic violation nothing more. Please change your company's reporting practices and become real journalists (instead) of just rag reporters."

Kanab city manager Kyler Ludwig did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the conclusion of Cram's case. After the crash occurred, the Utah Department of Transportation made some adjustments at the intersection where it happened to try to improve safety.

Once a pedestrian pushes the walk button before entering the crosswalk, a red left-turn arrow is now displayed for longer, said Kevin Kitchen, UDOT Region Four senior communications manager.

"This extends the time the arrow is red before flashing yellow," Kitchen said.

Kitchen added UDOT engineers will evaluate the new system "to ensure it will work year-round, especially during the summer months, when traffic volumes are much higher."