SALT LAKE/DAVIS COUNTIES, Utah, April 15, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Kaysville police officer risked his life early Friday morning when he intentionally crashed his patrol vehicle into a wrong-way DUI driver on I-15.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the incident began about 2 a.m., when the impaired driver entered the highway, heading north in the southbound lanes of traffic.
The driver then continued driving in the wrong-direction from Salt Lake City to Farmington in the HOV lane.
Troopers and Kaysville police were coordinating efforts to stop the driver when Kaysville Police Officer K. Delos Santos hit and disabled the oncoming vehicle, bringing it to a stop.
“Both the driver and Officer Delos Santos were uninjured but taken to the hospital as a precaution,” Kaysville PD said.
“After further investigation the driver was arrested for DUI,” Kaysville PD said. “Testing revealed his blood alcohol content was 4x the legal limit.
The Kaysville Police Department praised Delos Santos’ selfless action in a post on social media.
“Officer Delos Santos signed into work last night knowing it was the one year anniversary of his police academy graduation but what he didn’t know was that he would be saving lives this shift, the Kaysville PD post said.
“As the vehicle, traveling at speeds as high as 82 MPH, headed straight towards him, Officer Delos Santos was able to safely preform an intervention maneuver with his vehicle which forced the wrong way driver to stop.
“Thankfully the roads were not busy and this didn’t end in a tragic crash, thanks to the quick thinking and heroic actions of Officer Delos Santos.”
