A 22-year-old BYU student was killed Wednesday when a deputy with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office crashed his personal vehicle into the young man’s car, the department confirmed in a tweet Thursday.
Joseph Spencer was pulling out of a parking lot at 433 North and 900 East in Provo when the deputy, who was driving south on 900 East, crashed his truck into the student’s vehicle, according to the Provo Police Department. Spencer was pronounced dead at the scene. The collision is under investigation by Provo police.
Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the sheriff’s office confirmed Thursday that the truck that hit the student’s car was the deputy’s personal vehicle, which the deputy was driving to the scene of Wednesday’s standoff in Pleasant Grove.
The black truck was not equipped with the lights, sirens and other equipment that police vehicles usually have, Cannon also confirmed.
(Courtesy of the Provo Police Department) The deputy's truck is shown at the site of the Provo crash.
Cannon said the deputy was put on administrative leave.
Wednesday’s standoff began when a man fired a rifle and pointed it at bystanders before barricading himself in his home. No one was hurt during the five-hour negotiations, which ended with police arresting the man.
