ST. GEORGE, Utah, Dec. 24, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man has been arrested on a felony DUI charge after a crash in St. George that injured two juveniles.
A probable cause statement from the 5th District Court of Washington County said Gavin Ray Curran, 24, is facing charges of:
- DUI with serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance, marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Operating vehicle without insurance, a class C misdemeanor
On Wednesday, just before 4:15 p.m., the arresting officer from St. George Police Department responded to Snow Canyon Parkway and Entrada Trail for a callout on a traffic collision.
The suspect was traveling east on Snow Canyon Parkway while his friend was traveling in front of him. His friend’s vehicle had a bed liner that came out of the truck and onto the roadway. It appeared the suspect vehicle collided with the bed liner, the statement said, and he swerved.
“When he attempted to correct the swerve, he overcorrected and rolled his vehicle,” the statement said. “The 17-year-old passenger was ejected from the vehicle and landed approximately 150 feet from the initial crash point and appeared to sustain severe injury, and the doctor said he sustained a broken clavicle and broken pelvis. The other passenger, who was 12 years old, also sustained injury and may have broken his arm. Gavin admitted he had no insurance.”
The arresting officer conducted field sobriety tests with Curran.
“Gavin said he was missing some toes on each foot, but said he should be able to perform the tests properly,” the statement said. After Curran failed parts of the sobriety tests administered, the officer made the decision to escort the suspect back to the police department to complete a 12-step Drug Recognition Expert evaluation. It was found that the suspect’s pulse rate and blood pressure were high “though he seemed relaxed and he even confirmed he was very relaxed at the time,” the statement said.
“He even fell asleep when I stopped speaking to him. Gavin had a green film on his tongue and a THC E-cigarette was located near his vehicle at the crash site. The substance in the E-cigarette tested positive for marijuana.”
Curran allegedly admitted he smoked “a lot” of marijuana in Nevada the weekend before, but said he had not used it that day. His blood was collected and while en route to the jail, the suspect admitted the marijuana E-cigarette found on scene was his. He also admitted he smoked marijuana earlier that day and the day before.
Curran was transported to Washington County Jail, with his bail set at $5,000. He was on probation or parole at the time of the crimes.
