MAGNA, Utah, July 28, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A 26-year-old man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly struck a motorcyclist with his vehicle Sunday night, then left the scene and fled on foot from officers.
Kyle Jason Hale was taken into custody at gunpoint after refusing to stop for an officer and jumping over a fence in an attempt to get away, says a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court in Sale Lake County by a Unified Police Department officer.
At about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police responded to the area of 8240 West and 3500 South on reports of a hit-and-run crash involving a motorcyclist.
When the reporting UPD officer arrived at the scene, the male motorcyclist was bleeding from his elbows, his hands, and his knees, and had road rash on his face and hip, according to the probable cause statement. His damaged motorcycle was next to him.
While police were on the way to the accident scene, they were informed by dispatch that a man “driving a vehicle that matched the description of our suspect vehicle had just crashed nearby.” The man, later identified as Hale, had fled the scene of the accident on foot, the document states.
A witness told police a sports car had hit the victim and dragged him down the road without stopping. A plastic piece of a vehicle was found at the intersection of 8400 West and 3500 South, and there were “drag marks extending for approximately 50 yards” where the motorcycle and victim had been dragged.
Officers in the area where the suspect was last seen found a red 2010 Ford Mustang, registered to Hale, in a ditch where it had crashed.
An officer spotted Hale running and yelled at him to stop, but Hale fled and jumped over a fence. A short time later, he was “located and taken into custody at gunpoint.”
According to the charging document, inside Hale’s vehicle police found three opened bottles of beer, as well as marijuana. The reporting officer wrote that Hale had a hard time standing on his own or walking straight and kept asking the same questions over and over.
Hale refused to answer questions without an attorney present, and refused to take a breath test, the document states.
Hale was booked into Salt Lake County Jail and is facing charges of:
- Failure to remain at accident involving serious injury, a third-degree felony
- Driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs, a class B misdemeanor
- Open container/drinking alcohol in a vehicle, a class C misdemeanor
- Possession or use of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
