Caught on video: Man allegedly crashes, flees from police, then crashes again

ST. GEORGE — A man was taken into police custody Tuesday after allegedly crashing his truck and leaving the scene of the accident, evading police and then wrecking his vehicle a second time — and it was all caught on camera.

At approximately 7:36 p.m., members of the St. George Police Department were attempting to locate a white Toyota Tacoma that had allegedly crashed into a block wall at 2051 E. Red Hills Parkway in St. George and then left the scene, according to a probable cause statement signed by St. George Police Officer James Schafer on behalf of Officer Tim Linton.

While patrolling the area, Linton, the arresting officer in the case, located the vehicle in question driving south on 1000 East toward St. George Boulevard, the statement said. The vehicle appeared to have been damaged from a crash.

“The front passenger side of the truck was smashed,” the statement said, “and the truck did not seem to be running very well.”

The officer turned on his overhead lights and attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the truck, the statement said, but the Toyota’s driver did not stop. As the officer continued following the vehicle, the driver stopped at a red light and then continued on when it turned green.

At the next red light, however, the driver crashed his Toyota into the back of another truck that was stopped at the light. The Toyota was traveling about 30 mph at the time of the impact and did not appear to brake, according to the statement.

The driver of the Toyota was identified as 33-year-old Ronald Bodi McEwen, a resident of Salt Lake City.

During the investigation into the incidents, officers discovered the Toyota had an in-cab camera, and footage from the camera allegedly showed McEwen crashing into the initial block wall twice and also committing other offenses, according to the statement.

The video showed McEwen throwing a jug of chemicals out of the Toyota’s window, the statement said. In addition to the littering, the video showed McEwen swerving on the roadway and apparently choosing not to stop for police. He looked into his rear-view mirror and side mirror as the officer pursued him with emergency lights on.

“(It) appeared that Ronald was aware that I was behind him,” the statement said.

Following his final crash at the red light, McEwen was transported to the emergency room by ambulance, the statement said. There, he was treated and given medical clearance and was then transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

According to booking information at the time of this report, McEwen posted bail via a bond payment and has been released from custody.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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9 Comments

  • sagemoon March 4, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    For shame, Mr. McEwen!

    • uruinlives April 12, 2015 at 1:39 am

      “For shame” What does that even mean? At least finish your comment. Actually don’t bother. It would be a waste of everyone’s time since this article has so much false information. I can’t believe it was even allowed to be published.

      • CaliGirl April 12, 2015 at 8:38 am

        Choose to sin, choose to suffer! Don’t do the crime if can’t to the time. “For shame” simply means how sad that you, a responsible adult would be so stupid; you should be ashamed.

        • uruinlives April 19, 2015 at 10:30 pm

          Normally I would agree with your comment but in this case I don’t. No-one on here making comments knows what really happened because this is just some writer with an opinion. You should all be ashamed for making comments about something not based on fact. I’m sure this man is very ashamed. He lost everything. All we can hope for now is that he’ll get the help he needs. Mental illness is no joke.

  • My Evil Twin March 4, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    I’m a bit curious here. Was he really all that stupid, or was he under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and if he was under the influence, why was that charge not added?

    • Mean Momma March 7, 2015 at 12:54 pm

      He was probably huffing the chemicals he threw out

      • uruinlives April 12, 2015 at 1:30 am

        Wow, you sound like the editor. Really, you think he was “probably huffing” you know nothing! Don’t even make comments if you don’t know what he was doing. What chemicals? He threw a bottle out of a window, could’ve been a milk jug for all you know Or maybe he didn’t throw anything at all. Don’t believe everything you read, majority of it is the editor’s own opinion and alleged information.

    • uruinlives April 12, 2015 at 1:18 am

      People make mistakes all the time. Why wasn’t that charge added? Because he wasn’t under the influence. This entire article is based on a bunch of bull crap. The editor has no idea what happened and to make up information and using words like apparently and alleged is just proof that the info from this article is not based on fact. This article is an embarrassment to the person is was written about and the author should be ashamed of even writing it without actually knowing the facts.

  • uruinlives April 12, 2015 at 12:30 am

    To the author; next time you decide to post a man’s picture, full name and every single detail you can pull … about what you think you know happened, maybe you should consider that this person is a person just like yourself and has a family to support. You must realize that everyone including employers look at this and you just made it that much harder for this man who obviously is already having a hard time to put this mistake behind him. I hope you are proud of yourself. I also hope that you make a mistake and it gets published everywhere and when you try to get a job to support your family you can’t because someone wrote … about you and now it’s public for everyone to see.
    Ed. ellipsis.

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