DUI possible cause behind Friday crashes in Washington City

WASHINGTON CITY — Two separate crashes Friday evening in Washington City saw vehicles run off the road as one slid down an embankment by Exit 13 and another ended up overturned in a ditch along Buena Vista Boulevard.

Aftermath of a two-vehicle collision on the top on the northbound on/off ramp for the Washington Parkway/Exit 13 interchange, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Authorities are investigating the crashes in order to determine if driving under the influence was involved.

Just before 6:30 p.m., the report of a two-vehicle crash on Exit 13, the northbound off-ramp of the Washington Parkway interchange on Interstate 15 prompted a response from multiple agencies.

The Utah Highway Patrol, Washington City Police and Washington County Sheriff’s Office each had officers respond, along with the Washington City Fire Department and Gold Cross Ambulance.

When officers arrived at the scene they found a gray Nissan car that had gone off the right shoulder of the road by the ramp onto northbound I-15. The back-driver side of the car was smashed in, with other damage to the front of the car noticable. The second vehicle, a black Chrysler car, had also gone off the shoulder and slid down the embankment by the interchange. It had heavy front-end damage.

Aftermath of a two-vehicle collision on the top on the northbound on/off ramp for the Washington Parkway/Exit 13 interchange, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Lewis said the crash happened when the 34-year-old driver of the black Chrysler came off the northbound off-ramp from I-15 and failed to stop at the stop sign. He proceeded to get onto Washington Parkway where the Chrysler hit the Nissan. The Nissan had been stopped in the intersection as the driver, a 20-year-old woman, waited to turn north onto I-15 from Washington Parkway when the collision occurred.

Both parties appeared to have been wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, Lewis said, and added the crash is being investigated as a potential DUI incident as the Chrysler’s driver was believed to possibly be under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Both the Chrysler and Nissan’s drivers were taken to St. George Regional Hospital for examination. In the case of the Chrysler’s driver, it was to medically clear him to be released in police custody while the woman was taken in as a precautionary measure and appeared to have rather minor injuries, Lewis said.

As both vehicles were out of the roadway, there was little impact to passing traffic.

Washington City Police officer respond to a single-vehicle crash by the intersection of Buena Vista Boulevard and Tortoise Rock Drive, Washington City, Utah, Oct. 10, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Just over an hour later at 7:40 p.m., the report of a crash at the intersection of Buena Vista Boulevard and Tortoise Rock Drive came in.

In this incident, Washington City Police Sgt. Sean Wilstead said a woman driving westbound on Buena Vista Boulevard had meant to turn north onto Tortoise Rock Drive. However, the woman took the turn too sharp and ended up going off the road and into a ditch which flipped the SUV onto its top.

The woman did not appear injured at the scene and police officers had her engage in a series of field sobriety tests before putting her in the back of one of the police vehicles.

As the crash is under investigation, Wilstead said any declaration of a DUI incident wouldn’t be made until it was investigated further.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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