UTAH COUNTY, Utah, May 19, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Salt Lake City woman was arrested for multiple misdemeanors, including driving under the influence, after officers say she drove through police barricades and into the scene of a car accident where a medical helicopter was loaded and prepared to take off.
The driver arrested was 30-year-old Patricia Garcia Meza, 30, of Salt Lake City. The accident, in the American Fork area, was a single-vehicle crash in which the driver hit a concrete barrier, and the car caught fire. The victim, a 32-year-old man, was airlifted to an area hospital, where he died.
“Patricia went through police barricades on the freeway and continued driving towards officer’s lights and onto the scene of a fatal accident investigation,” says Meza’s affidavit. “Patricia nearly hit several officers and nearly hit the Life Flight helicopter that contained a burn victim patient and several EMTs.
“Officers were able to get Patricia to stop her and pulled her out of the vehicle she was driving.”
Meza smelled of alcohol, the officer noted, and a standardized field sobriety test indicated she was impaired, the statement says.
“Patricia blew into a portable breath test with a positive result of 0.118. Patricia was placed under arrest and placed in my patrol car. Officers found marijuana and paraphernalia in the vehicle within arm’s reach of the driver’s seat.”
Meza was arrested for investigation of class B misdemeanors related to reckless driving, failure to observe a barricade, driving while intoxicated, being in possession of marijuana, refusing a chemical (blood) test, and possession or use of drug paraphernalia. She was also arrested for driving on a revoked license, a class C misdemeanor; and driving without enough tread on one or more tires, an infraction.
Her bail was set at $5,000.
