The traffic light had been red for at least 7.5 seconds when a green truck barreled into Mountain View Corridor’s intersection with Rosecrest Road (14400 South) and crashed into two other vehicles, injuring five and killing a baby girl.
The driver of the truck, 26-year-old Lawrence Probert of Kearns, was charged in 3rd District Court on Friday. He’s facing four felonies — including second-degree felony manslaughter and third-degree felony driving under the influence of drugs — and several misdemeanors.
Two minutes before the 7:16 p.m. crash Monday, witnesses reported a reckless driver speeding — officers later calculated Probert traveling between 90 and 120 miles per hour — north on Mountain View Corridor, according to court documents.
A witness said the green truck was “almost ‘sideswiping all the other vehicles heading north as it passed by them,’ ” charging documents state.
Probert’s 24-year-old female passenger later told police she had told him to slow down or stop and let her out.
Despite the speed, he still could have stopped at the intersection, with more than 300 feet to spare, a detective calculated.
Instead, he broadsided a truck, then collided into the minivan.
The driver of the minivan, his wife and daughter were taken to the hospital. Their 5-month-old baby died in the crash.
The driver of the other truck suffered broken bones, a lacerated spleen, contusions and abrasions.
Probert’s passenger and her dog were thrown out of the truck. Her injuries were initially life-threatening. In addition to breaking multiple ribs, puncturing a lung and fracturing an ankle, the impact paralyzed her from the diaphragm down, court documents state. Her dog lost an eye.
Emergency responders and witnesses described Probert — who was taken to the hospital in serious condition — as “combative.” One witnesses told police that Probert spat blood at paramedics.
Probert told EMTs that he had smoked methamphetamine earlier that day. A blood test taken after the crash confirmed the presence of the drug.
He was on probation at the time of Monday night’s crash, according to Unified police.
He was convicted in 2012 of second-degree felony theft by receiving stolen property and third-degree felony attempted theft by receiving stolen property.
In 2016, he was convicted of class B misdemeanor possession or use of a controlled substance and a class C misdemeanor for giving a false personal identity to a peace officer. In that case, a $2,500 warrant was issued for him in February after he failed to appear in court.
Probert is being held in lieu of $500,000 cash-only bail.