Police Ram Wrong-Way Tesla Driver on Utah Freeway
A Utah police officer has been commended by his superiors after using his vehicle to ram a Tesla driver traveling the wrong way on a freeway in Davis County, north of Salt Lake City, on February 9.
Dashcam video released by the Kaysville Police Department on February 27 shows Officer Kalawai Delos Santos intercepting the wrong-way driver on northbound lanes of Interstate 15 and deliberately colliding with the vehicle to bring it to a stop.
After the crash, the video goes dark but the audio continues. “I got him,” Delos Santos is heard telling colleagues over a radio. “I need medical…bad,” he adds.
Police said Delos Santos’s vehicle “sustained significant damage and he required extraction by medical personnel before being transported to the hospital with moderate to serious injuries.” He was discharged from the hospital later on Thursday, spent about two weeks recovering at home, and returned to work on February 26, they said.
The adult male Tesla driver was not injured in the crash “but was promptly apprehended on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI),” police said.
The Kaysville Police said it was the second time Officer Delos Santos had successfully intercepted a wrong-way driver, the first incident having occurred in April of 2022. Credit: Kaysville Police via Storyful
Video transcript
[SIRENS]
- [INAUDIBLE] intercept.
- Sure.
- [INAUDIBLE] 31 coming to 200 North. And shut down the [INAUDIBLE].
[SIRENS]
- [INAUDIBLE]
[SIRENS]
[CRASHING]
[SIRENS]
- Davis killed 26. 1050. I got him. 200 North. [GROANS] [COUGHS]
- 10-4.
- I need medical bad.
- Unit 26. 10-4. Unit's responding. [INAUDIBLE] Are you just south of 200 North?
- No. I'm right at 200 North.
[SIRENS]
[SIGHS] I'm stuck in my car. I can't get out.
- 10-4.
- [COUGHS] [GROANS]
- Over by at the rest area.
- Davis 26. Notify admin, please.
- Unit 26. 10-4. Unit is responding on wrong-way driver [INAUDIBLE] with vehicle at [INAUDIBLE] 200 North. [INAUDIBLE]
[SIRENS]
- [GROANS]
- [INAUDIBLE] out there.
- [GROANS] [GROANS]
- [INAUDIBLE] have them shut down the freeway [INAUDIBLE].
[SIRENS]
- [COUGHS]
[SIRENS]
