A woman died and two others were critically injured Sunday after the driver of a Jeep — who was reportedly fleeing from a Utah wildlife officer — collided with a car in a Salt Lake City intersection.
On Sunday morning, an officer from the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, tried to speak with the Jeep’s driver on a frontage road near the DWR’s Lee Kay Public Shooting Range, 6000 W. 2100 South, about “possible criminal activity,” according to a news release from the Utah Highway Patrol.
The officer was investigating ongoing criminal complaints related to dumping and vandalism along the frontage road adjacent to the shooting range, according to DWR spokesman Mark Hadley. During his patrol, the officer made contact with an individual in a Jeep Cherokee and observed drug paraphernalia “sitting in plain view” in the person’s vehicle.
When confronted about the illegal activity, the driver immediately sped away, and the officer, who did not actively pursue the vehicle, lost sight of the Jeep as it turned from 5600 West onto eastbound California Avenue (about 1400 South), UHP said.
As the Jeep drove east on California Avenue, it ran a red light at an intersection with Bangerter Highway and T-boned a small passenger car on its driver side about 11:40 a.m., according to UHP.
The car rolled off the road to the northeast, UHP says, and the Jeep spun backward, where it struck a light pole and rolled onto its side. As the Jeep rolled, the female passenger was ejected out the back window and suffered fatal injuries.
The woman was identified as 44-year-old Danyelle Jennings, of West Valley City.
(Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol) A woman died Sunday, March 25, 2018, from injuries she suffered when the Jeep she was riding in collided with a sedan on Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County.
(Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol) A woman died Sunday, March 25, 2018, from injuries she suffered when the Jeep she was riding in collided with a sedan on Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County.
Two others — the drivers of both cars — were transported to the hospital in critical condition, UHP says. Investigators were looking into the incident, including whether the Jeep had been stolen.