Estimated read time: 1-2 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
(KSL News) A man who crashed a car in Kearns overnight is in jail this morning.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputies say an off-duty deputy was on his way home just before 11 p.m. when he saw a car run a stop sign at high speeds. Before he caught up with it, the driver lost control and the car slammed into a cinder block wall in the area of 5700 South and 5900 West. The driver got out of the car despite having severe head injuries, and ran from the scene.
A neighbor who heard the crash came out to help, but the driver didn't want any.
Valerie Dean said, "I turned to get him to sit down, and he said, ‘No, I've got to go.' I said, ‘You are not going to go anywhere.' I grabbed on to his jacket and he bolted."
Authorities brought out K9s and even a helicopter to search for the driver as his passenger was flown to the hospital in critical condition. They eventually found the driver more than 20 blocks away.
Dean said, "I did not see any alcohol, but I could smell it. It was very strong. That was probably the first thing when I approached him that I was aware of."
Deputies tell us the driver had borrowed the car from a family member and had warrants for possession of illegal substances and driving without insurance.
