CRIME, POLICE + COURTS
Salt Lake County DA says police chase that ended in a fatal crash was not an officer-involved critical incident
Sep 30, 2022, 3:23 PM | Updated: Dec 29, 2022, 11:25 am
Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office building in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. The DA has filed charges against a longtime elementary school teacher, Jared Tichy. (Kristin Murphy/Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill’s Office announced that an incident involving two North Salt Lake Police officers did not meet the criteria for an officer-involved critical incident, an OICI. The incident in question was under review after a person died following a police chase.
On Oct. 31, 2021 two NSLPD officers pursued a 1999 gold F-250. The chase ended when the F-250 crashed into a Nissan Pathfinder in Salt Lake City.
The driver of the Pathfinder, a woman referred to as “T. H. V.”, received fatal injuries. The DA’s office said T. H. V.’s passenger received a traumatic brain injury, spinal fractures and broken ribs. The crash also killed a dog that was in the Pathfinder.
The driver and passenger of the F-250 received serious injuries as well.
A task force was put together to investigate the incident after an OICI protocol was initiated by the Salt Lake City Police Department.
The DA’s office made note that it had filed charges against the driver of the gold F-250, and the case is currently pending. The driver of the F-250 is suspected of being intoxicated at the time of the accident.
That task force presented its findings to the DA’s office in December of 2021. The DA’s office said it conducted an independent review of the task force’s findings, and “does not believe that it is in the interest of justice to file criminal charges in this matter.”
The DA’s office said the incident did not meet the statutory definition of an OICI and found that the death and serious bodily injury were not a result of either NSLPD officer’s actions.
