Driver arrested, 2 cars wrecked in freeway road rage crash, UHP says
Dec 26, 2024, 7:00 PM
A driver was arrested Thursday and accused of causing a crash on I-215 that Utah Highway Patrol troopers said was due to road rage. (Viorel Margineanu, Shutterstock)
(Viorel Margineanu, Shutterstock)
MURRAY — A Utah man was arrested Thursday and accused of causing a crash during a road rage confrontation.
Taylor Steven Gray, 33, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of reckless endangerment with a road rage penalty enhancement.
The investigation began when Utah Highway Patrol troopers responded to a crash on I-215 near 4300 South. Two vehicles had crashed into the concrete barrier.
Gray “refused to provide me with his statement of what happened other than he mentioned he was traveling approximately 79 mph and that he did not crash intentionally,” a trooper wrote in a police booking affidavit.
The other driver, however, said the crash “was a result of road rage.” That driver, who was in a Jeep, claimed he was cut off by Gray, so he flashed his high beams. At that point, Gray “brake checked” the Jeep three times, the affidavit states.
The second driver changed lanes to get away from Gray, but Gray “swerved purposefully at the Jeep. The driver of the Jeep advised there were vehicles to his right, and he was not able to avoid the collision,” according to the affidavit. “The driver of the Jeep advised me that he believes Gray swerved at him purposefully with the intention of causing a crash.”
Both men lost control of their vehicles and crashed into the concrete barrier.
Two tow trucks arrived to take the wrecked vehicles away. Gray got into the passenger seat of one of them and left the scene without filling out a statement for the trooper, the affidavit states. The trooper then caught up with the tow truck, pulled it over, and made Gray get out to fill out the paperwork.
“We stood on the side of the road for an extended period of time while he slowly filled out the statement. The written statement he provided me did not clearly advise how the crash had happened, nor did it mention anything about the road rage circumstance,” the trooper wrote in the arrest report.
Gray said he did not want to answer any questions without a lawyer present but noted “he did not think any of what the other driver said had occurred.”
He was then taken into custody.
