Driver allegedly consumed 7 beers before hit-and-run crash that killed West Jordan boy

SALT LAKE CITY — New court documents allege 50-year-old Mason Ohms drank seven 20-ounce beers in the hours before he was involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 13-year-old boy last week.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office formally charged Ohms with automobile homicide criminal negligence DUI of alcohol/drugs, failure to remain at an accident involving death and obstructing justice. Those charges are all felonies. He’s also charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, an infraction.

Authorities said 50-year-old Mason Ohms was driving under the influence when he struck 13-year-old Eli Mitchell as he was riding his bike at 9000 South and 1510 West.

A court charging document said Ohms was driving south on 1510 west waiting at a red light to make a right-hand turn onto 9000 south. “Ohms accelerated hard into his right turn hitting E.M. (Eli Michell) just as he entered the crosswalk.”

The document said Mitchel’s bike remained wedged beneath Ohm’s truck as he continued down 9000 south. He then made a U-turn and drove past the scene without stopping.

Witnesses on the scene were already performing CPR on Mitchel as Ohms drove by.

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Ohms stopped at a nearby parking lot to get the broken bike out from under his truck. He discarded it behind a business and continued south on 1510 west.

The document said officers tracked Ohm’s whereabouts before the crash to a nearby bar.  “The bar’s security footage showed Mason Andrew Ohms entering at approximately at 12:44 hours, getting into his truck at 17:58 hours, and leaving at 18:00 hours.” The crash happened a minute later the document said. “Records from the bar indicate that Mason Andrew Ohms had consumed seven 20 oz beers during the time he was at the bar. He ordered his last beer at 17:18 hours.”

Officers went to Ohms’s home in Saratoga Springs but his wife said he was not there. Police had his wife call Ohms to come home. Ohms walked up to the officers who asked him where his truck was. Ohms told them he parked it in the neighborhood.

The document said, “When officers told Mason Andrew Ohms they wanted to speak with him about a hit and run he stated, ‘I felt a bump and did not know what it was.’”

As police took Ohms into custody one of the officers smelled the odor of alcohol on Ohms.

Police got warrants to get blood samples from Ohms. The document said, “Preliminary results on the first blood draw, estimated to be six hours after the accident, showed a BAC of .10. Preliminary results on second draw an hour later showed a BAC of .08”

The legal limit for blood alcohol in Utah is .05.

The charging document said Ohms had been convicted of driving under the influence four previous times.