Surveillance video in Kearns captures car blow red light, cause crash, drive away
May 31, 2024, 10:29 PM | Updated: 10:38 pm
KEARNS — A driver was facing a potential felony charge after police said he drove away from an injury crash Thursday and then fled from an officer who tried to stop him.
According to Unified police Sgt. Bruce Huntington, the crash happened around 4:00 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of 5400 South and 4220 West.
Brandon Young told KSL TV he was driving southbound on 4220 West, and the light had been green for a while. He was caught by surprise by a white sedan that blew through a red light while going eastbound.
“It was pure red,” Young said of the light going the other direction. “All the other cars had stopped and kablam.”
Survivance video capturing an alleged hit-and-run crash as a white car sped through a red light. (Courtesy: Gines Auto Service)
Surveillance camera footage from a neighboring business appeared to show the white car approaching the red light at a high rate of speed before driving into the intersection through the shoulder of the road.
“She screamed, ‘Go, get out of here, go,’” Young recalled of the passenger of the white car after the crash. “So, the wheels screeched, he hopped the curb and took off.”
The video showed the white car driving down the sidewalk and back onto the road. A Unified police SUV that was stopped westbound flipped around and began to go after the car with lights flashing and a siren running.
“The officer tried to pull it over and it clearly fled from the officer,” Huntington said. “(The driver) ran the red light at this intersection at (5400 South and 4000 West) to go north on 40th and then just pulled over.”
A Unified police officer beginning to chase the white car as it allegedly fled the scene. (Courtesy: Gines Auto Service)
Huntington said both occupants of the sedan also suffered injuries in the crash.
He said officers found an open container of alcohol and a firearm in the vehicle. Still, it was not believed that intoxication played a factor, and he said the driver was legally possessing the gun.
Police said the driver was a man in his 30,s and he was booked on suspicion of felony fleeing and misdemeanor leaving the scene of an injury crash.
“If he’d just stayed on scene, he probably would have just received a citation for running a red light,” Huntington said.
Huntington said the man offered no reason for driving through the red light at the time of the collision.
Young said his truck was totaled and he had to go to the hospital for injuries suffered during the crash. He said he still was very stiff and sore Friday, but he was grateful the situation didn’t end even worse.
“Seeing that officer being at that intersection and make that U-turn to go after him just—peace just came over me. I just thought, ‘Oh, thank you, Lord,’ you know,” he said.
Young said he believed he had been protected that day, and even though he didn’t like seatbelts, he was wearing one at the time of the crash.
“I wasn’t a fan before, but I am now,” Young said. “It saved me.”
He said the ordeal underscored why it is important to slow down a little and look both ways when driving through an intersection. Young also couldn’t imagine why the driver didn’t stop.
“I could have had kids in the car that could have been dead and they wouldn’t have cared—they just were leaving,” Young said. “It’s really been a shocking wake-up call for me.”
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