TOOELE COUNTY, Utah, March 31, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — An 18-year-old male was arrested Sunday for alleged automobile homicide and driving under the influence after a crash on State Route 36 that killed his 16-year-old passenger.
A Utah Highway Patrol trooper was dispatched at 2:45 a.m. to an area near mile marker 30.
“Deputy Taubman from the Tooele County Sheriff Office arrived on scene before me,” says a court document filed in the arrest of Jaxon Douglas David Wood.
The deputy “was performing CPR on an individual on scene. I arrived on the scene several minutes later and observed Jaxon, the driver, standing next to Deputy Taubman as CPR was being performed. I began CPR to relieve Taubman. As I was on scene, I began to detect the odor of alcoholic beverage.
“The crash involved a single pickup truck. From my initial cursory inspection of the crash scene, it appeared that the truck had left its lane of travel and veered off the side of SR-36. It appeared that the truck had rolled and ejected both occupants of the vehicle.
“The passenger, age 16, was the unconscious person receiving CPR. The passenger was pronounced dead on scene by EMS several minutes after they arrived.”
Wood had been driving, he told the trooper.
“I observed that Jaxon had very red bloodshot eyes as well as relaxed facial features. He had very slurred speech and struggled greatly to balance. As I continued to interact with Jaxon, I detected the odor of alcoholic beverage coming from Jaxon’s mouth in an open-air environment.”
Wood agreed to a field sobriety test, and did poorly, his arrest document says. A preliminary breath test came back at BrAC.18. The legal limit is .05.
“Jaxon stated that he had been traveling from a bonfire party where he had drunk a couple of beers,” the arrest document says. “As Jaxon was being checked out by EMS, officers on scene told me that Jaxon had admitted to driving 85 mph in that area, which is a 65 mph zone.”
Wood is being investigated for alleged:
- Automobile homicide, a second-degree felony
- Driving under the influence, a class B misdemeanor
- Alcohol restricted driver, a class B misdemeanor
- Purchase, possess, consume by minor – measurable amounts, a class B misdemeanor
- Reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Speeding, an infraction
- Failure to wear a seat belt, an infraction
- Failure to operate within a single lane, an infraction
- Purchase or possession of tobacco by a minor, an infraction
Wood was ordered held without bail in the Tooele County Jail.
