An 18-year-old Millard County man has been charged with automobile homicide and other counts for allegedly driving drunk when he rolled his car Friday, causing the death of his 15-year-old female passenger.
George Jakob Schafer, of Delta, was charged Monday in 4th District Court with second-degree felony auto homicide for the death of Noelia Orona. The count carries the possibility of up to 15 years in prison.
Schafer also was charged with third-degree felony counts of failure to remain at the scene of an accident involving serious injury and DUI with serious bodily injury, and class B misdemeanor consumption of alcohol by a minor.
Court documents state that just after midnight on Friday, a Millard County sheriff’s deputy was dispatched on a call from a Delta resident who said a suspicious person, later identified as Schafer, was knocking on doors in the vicinity of 4000 West and 2000 South in Delta.
Schafer said there had been an accident, but acted nervous and left when the resident said she was going to call the police, court documents state.
The deputy was unable to locate the suspicious person, but did find a vehicle that had run off the road and rolled into a field.
The deputy Orona dead in the car.
At some point, Schafer returned to the scene of the crash and admitted he had been drinking and driving, court documents state.
Court documents state that Schafer’s blood-alcohol level was later found to be 0.10, which is over the legal limit for driving of 0.08.
Bail for Schafer was set at $10,000. An initial court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday.
