TOOELE COUNTY, Utah, April 18, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah Highway Patrol sergeant escaped injury Tuesday after spotting a wrong-way driver on Interstate I-80 in Tooele County and using his vehicle to stop the oncoming truck.
The UHP sergeant was traveling westbound on I-80 near Lake Point a little before 3 p.m. when he spotted a truck pulling a U-Haul trailer headed east in the westbound lanes, the Utah Department of Public Safety stated in a news release.
“He observed the wrong-way vehicle approaching and activated his emergency lights and siren. He reduced his speed and stayed in the path of the wrong-way driver,” the release states.
The sergeant’s vehicle was hit in its left front end by the wrong-way driver and in the rear by a white pickup truck, according to DPS.
The wrong-way driver was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, the release say. The UHP sergeant was taken to a different hospital as a precaution.
A motorist who witnessed the crashed shared his experience on Facebook, saying the sergeant “saved my life.”
Alex Whitbeck said the wrong-way driver was headed directly at his vehicle until the sergeant intervened.
“The officer decided he would put his life in front of mine and hit the driver head on,” the post states. “I was not even 50 feet behind the police car. I had my brother and my dog with me.”
Whitbeck, who shared photos of the crash with Gephardt Daily, said he helped pull the sergeant from the crashed vehicle.
“All he had to say was, ‘Can you write a statement?’ Bro?? You almost died and you’re asking me for a statement? I don’t know you, but I love you brother. That took some balls. You saved countless lives today, and I’m forever grateful,” the post states.
Westbound I-80 was completely closed for about an hour while officials investigated and cleaned up the crash. Lane reductions on westbound I-80 were in place for about two hours, according to DPS.
The Tooele County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash.
