RICHFIELD, Utah, May 6, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A second arrest, this one involving alcohol, has been made in the rollover crash that killed a 15-year-old boy Tuesday.
A charge of distributing alcohol to a minor was formally filed against Carlos Reyes, 27, of Elsinore, Thursday in Richfield 6th District Court pursuant to the investigation of the fatal crash.
Richfield City Police asked the Utah Highway Patrol to join the investigation due to the severity of the case, according to a post on social media. The post also announced the Wednesday arrest of the 14-year-old driver for investigation of a charge of manslaughter, a second-degree felony.
Reyes was booked into the Sevier County Jail Wednesday evening on $2,500 bail for the class A misdemeanor alcohol charge filed Thursday. His arraignment was set for May 9.
Police say the 14 year old was driving a Hyundai Sonata with two teen passengers, ages 16 and 15, at about 8 p.m. Tuesday when he lost control of the car on a dirt road west of Richfield. The 15-year-old boy was standing up through the sunroof and filming at the time of the crash.
The teen was pinned under the vehicle and died at the scene, according to police. The 14- and 16-year-old boys were transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.
“During the investigation (of the crash) it was obvious alcohol was involved,” according to Reyes’ charging documents quoting the UHP’s State Bureau of Investigation.
One of the teens involved, the 16 year old, said that on the day before the crash, Reyes had given him a 12-pack of Twisted Teas, an alcoholic beverage, and $20 to purchase a disabled truck from him in a transaction arranged through Facebook, the court papers say. By matching Reyes’ Facebook account with his driver license photo, the State Bureau of Investigation obtained his phone number, and contacted him to meet to talk about the truck purchase.
Two SBI agents then met with Reyes, who first said he bought the truck for $30, not mentioning the alcohol.
Eventually he admitted the alcohol was included, and that he thought the teen was old enough to purchase alcohol since he was selling a truck on Facebook, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“I asked Carlos if he thought (the teen) was 21 or older, why he didn’t just tell me about the alcohol when explaining the transaction the first time. Carlos shrugged and said he didn’t know.”
