Police: Driver in fatal Salt Lake crash stayed until ambulance arrived, but still left too soon

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SALT LAKE CITY — Even though police say a driver involved in a fatal Friday crash on Beck Street stayed at the scene while an ambulance arrived, they say the man still left before he should have.

The crash that left one man dead after he was hit by a car is still being considered a hit and run, according to Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking.

“Technically, you’re still supposed to stay on the scene of the accident until you’ve been released,” he said Wednesday.

The crash took place about 6:21 p.m. Friday near 1657 N. Beck Street. Joe Burford, 73, the owner of a nearby dog boarding business, ran out into the street after a dog he was handing off to its owner got away from him.

Burford was hit by a truck that was coming south on Beck Street. He died Saturday from his injuries.

Police on Friday initially said the driver of the truck got out for a moment and then left the scene. But the daughter-in-law of the driver, who she identified as Paul Goodwin, said he stopped immediately after the crash and remained there for over 30 minutes.

Amber Goodwin disagreed that the crash should be called a “hit and run.”

“Our father would never leave a man for dead,” she said in an email Wednesday. “He did everything that most would have done in that situation.”

Amber Goodwin said her father-in-law left before police got to the scene, but he didn’t know they were coming and didn’t realize he needed to speak with them. Paul Goodwin declined to speak with KSL.com.

Wilking did not know exactly how much time passed after the crash before police arrived at the scene.

Paul Goodwin turned himself in to authorities on Sunday, according to police. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office is still screening the case for any possible criminal charges, Wilking added.

Amber Goodwin said Paul got out of his truck after the crash and went over to the man he hit to see how he was doing. Another driver who pulled over after witnessing the crash stopped and waited with Paul’s 7-year-old son, who was waiting in the truck during the aftermath of the crash, Amber Goodwin said.

She said Paul stayed until after the ambulance left to take Burford to the hospital, but police had not arrived to the scene at that point. Paul wanted to get his son home, so he left, Amber Goodwin said.

“Once (Paul) realized the cops were looking for him he contacted them, set up a time to meet them and fully complied with all of their request,” she said.

Although he didn’t know how long it took for officers to respond to the Friday crash, Wilking said police response times can change depending on the circumstances at any given time.

Medical personnel are typically staged at several key locations around Salt Lake City — a purposeful decision that ensures people will get medical attention in a timely manner when they need it, Wilking said.

Things work differently for police officers, though, he said. They aren’t staged in a central location and move from location to location throughout their shifts as they respond to calls. That means they could be dispatched to a location on the other side of town, Wilking said.

“If I don’t have any units available, or the next closest unit available is on the other side of town, that can slow down that response,” he said.

He didn’t say if that was the case on Friday night. But he said the driver leaving the scene before he should have caused “more problems than necessary.”

“If you’re involved in an incident, it’s incumbent upon you to stay at that incident and stay at that scene,” Wilking said. “And certainly that’s the heart of this matter, is that the individual did not stay at the scene.”

Amber Goodwin said her father-in-law keeps playing the situation over and over in his head. He feels terrible, she said.

“(Paul) is heartbroken over this entire thing, wishes every second that it didn’t happen … but knowing there was nothing he could have done differently to avoid this tragic accident,” Amber Goodwin said.