A Utah Highway Patrol officer conducting a stationary patrol on Interstate 15 was alerted to an accident not far from his location. When he arrived, he found a pickup truck had smashed into a sign on the highway. After speaking with the driver, the officer arrested the man on suspicion of DUI.
According to a preliminary report from the Utah Highway Patrol, the man was headed south on the Interstate when he somehow drifted off the highway and into a sign. When the officer was informed about the crash, he was told the driver may be injured, so emergency medical personnel were called to the scene. The driver was checked out but refused any further treatment.
The responding officer suspected the driver might be under the influence. The man agreed to participate in field sobriety tests, which the officer felt confirmed his belief that the driver was impaired. He took the man into custody and transported him to an area hospital where medical personnel again checked him out and had his blood drawn for a blood alcohol test. It was not reported whether the results of that test are available.
After being cleared by hospital personnel, the man was taken to Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked on charges of DUI, improper lane travel and not having proof of insurance. Prosecutors will have to prove the man was impaired at the time of the accident in order to obtain a criminal conviction. Fortunately, the man will have the opportunity to challenge those claims and the evidence that the prosecutors intend to offer in court in support of the allegations.
Source: stgeorgeutah.com, “Driver slams into freeway sign; DUI arrest“, T.S. Romney, July 22, 2014
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