Sheriff’s Office identifies 19-year-old killed in Eagle Mountain crash
Courtesy Utah County Sheriff's Office
Curb scuffs are shown near the site of a crash that killed 19-year-old Caelan Lewis in Eagle Mountain on Friday, March 18, 2022.Early Friday evening, a 19-year-old Eagle Mountain resident was killed in a crash at the intersection of Porter’s Crossing and Evans Ranch Drive. Utah County Sheriff’s deputies reported to the scene, where a 14-year-old driving a dirt bike on the streets reportedly hit and killed the pedestrian.
The 19-year-old has been identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Caelan Lewis.
“I’ve gotten kind of mad about this one, it’s something that shouldn’t have happened,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon, the Sheriff’s Office public information officer.
According to Cannon and witness reports, the crash occurred while the driver was going approximately 60-65 mph in an area with a speed limit of 25 mph.
The crash occurred while Lewis was walking through a crosswalk and witnesses relayed that the driver did not make an effort to stop or slow down.
According to the press release, Lewis was pronounced dead at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray after being taken by LifeFlight helicopters. The driver was also taken to a hospital with “serious injuries” but is expected to recover.
The driver, who has not been identified, was driving a non-street-legal vehicle without proper registration, according to Cannon. Additionally, the registration for the dirt bike was expired, Cannon said.
Cannon added that while city ordinances can allow for driving dirt bikes on streets and roads, there are other laws that have to be followed. The driver also did not have a driver’s license due to his age.
“If I read it correctly, it has to be a vehicle that meets registration requirements,” Cannon said.
Cannon added that adults driving non-street-legal vehicles need to stop, and parents of underage people driving them need to intervene.
He also acknowledged that there have been issues in the Eagle Mountain/Saratoga Springs area regarding underage people driving non-street-legal vehicles on the road. While the department has been criticized for not preventing the actions, Cannon said there is only so much they can do. He told the Daily Herald if people are not there when deputies arrive, or if witness can’t and won’t identify underage drivers, there is not more they can do.
“It does happen with regularity out there. It’s not like they’re all over the place, but you get a city of nearly 50,000 people and you’re going to have things like this. We respond to calls like this all the time,” he said. “We would not argue that there’s always more we can do. But we would argue (against comments) that we do nothing about it.”
