ST. GEORGE — A man was transported to the hospital after running his car off the road at the bottom of a steep hill near the Elks Lodge in St. George Wednesday night.
The man was driving away from the Elks Lodge on West 1250 North when a possible medical issue caused him to lose control and hit an embankment on the side of the road, which then made him launch off the other side of the road, St. George Police officer Joe Deim said.
The man’s car hit a tree and became high-centered on some rocks, which prevented it from rolling further into the Dixie Red Hills Golf Course, Deim said.
People at the Elks Lodge heard the crash then heard the man continue to rev his engine, the officer said. They called 911.
“When bystanders finally got to the car, the driver was pretty much out of it,” Deim said. “He was conscious — just not very alert.”
The bystanders pulled the man out of the passenger side of the car because he couldn’t get out of the driver’s side, he added. He was transported by Gold Cross Ambulance to be checked out at the hospital for any potential injuries, although Deim said there didn’t appear to be any major injuries when he was taken from the scene.
It was most likely a medical issue that caused the crash, but police are still unsure what exactly caused the man to crash. Alcohol or intoxication is not believed to be a cause of the crash at this time, Deim said.
“We know he had dinner up at the Elks Lodge and he had two drinks from what the waitress had mentioned, but nothing really that we can show that alcohol had been a factor in the crash.”
The engine was smoking after the crash, so firefighters from the St. George Fire Department sprayed the engine down with a hose from a firetruck to cool it off.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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Two drinks? Good thing Utah’s goofy new law has not taken effect yet.
He had an episode of Jim Beamitis
I was up at the lodge for 10 yrs 75 % of people leaving there are drunk.. they use to post a look out man to see if police were in church parking lot to watch drivers ciming down the hill. It’s steep and no barriers… I would even call the police and tell them if there is a big party or weds steak night when there was alo5 of drunks… if you go in their parking lot in the morning you will see 10cars left cars left there from te night before..