OREM, Utah, Dec. 17, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Gov. Spencer Cox has shared more information about a fatal collision involving a wrong-way driver and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper.
The crash happened early Sunday morning on Interstate 15 near Orem. Troopers were responding after a report of a driver headed north in a southbound lane.
“Hero alert,” Cox’s tweet begins. “At 2 a.m. dispatch received a wrong-way driver report heading northbound on I-15 in Orem. Troopers Carlos Rios-Redd and Ben Fagan responded without hesitation.
“At freeway speeds and on a blind dip, the car appeared sooner than expected and Trooper Redd took it head on. Trooper Redd suffered a broken femur and ankle and was incapacitated while his car was caught fire. Fortunately, Trooper Fagan arrived shortly thereafter. He immediately extinguished the fire, broke the window with his hand and pulled Redd out as the cab was consumed in smoke.”
The female driver died as a result of the head-on collision. Her passenger was critically injured. Rios-Redd’s injuries were serious, but not life threatening.
“Tragically, the driver of the wrong-way vehicle was killed and our prayers are with her family,” Cox’s tweet continues. “Trooper Redd has undergone surgery and is recovering. I am grateful for selfless and courageous law enforcement officials who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.”
UHP Sgt. Andrew Battenfield spoke with reporters at a Sunday morning news conference.
“The passenger from the wrong-way car was transported to the hospital, and our trooper as well, was transported to the hospital. Our trooper is in good shape, he’s in good spirits. He will need some surgery, but we expect him to recover.”
Battenfield told reporters there had been five incidents of wrong-way drivers within the past two weeks. He said in most cases, impairment was a contributing factor, but he could not say if that was the case in the Sunday morning OICI, and Orem police investigators would be examining the evidence.
When asked about bravery required for UHP troopers to put themselves in harm’s way, Battenfield said dealing with wrong-way drivers is “something that, as law enforcement, we think about a lot especially with the Highway Patrol that things happen very quickly on the road. We have some training for this, but it’s something that all too frequently we are dealing with now.”
Gephardt Daily will have additional information as details and findings in the case are released.
