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Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Carlos Rios-Redd's patrol vehicle is pictured after colliding with a driver going the wrong way on Interstate 15 in Orem on Sunday morning, Dec. 17, 2023. The driver of the wrong-way vehicle was killed on scene and a passenger is in critical condition. Rios-Redd sustained serious injuries.

Courtesy Utah Department of Public Safety

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Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Carlos Rios-Redd responded to a report of a wrong-way vehicle on Interstate 15 in Orem on Sunday morning, Dec. 17, 2023, and sustained serious injuries after colliding with the other vehicle.

Courtesy Utah Department of Public Safety

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After responding to a report of a wrong-way vehicle on Interstate 15 in Orem, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Fagan extinguished a fire in Trooper Carlos Rios-Redd's patrol car after he collided with the wrong-way vehicle on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023.

Courtesy Utah Department of Public Safety

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A wrong-way crash early Sunday morning on Interstate 15 in Orem resulted in the death of a motorist. It was the sixth incident of wrong-way driving handled by the Utah Highway Patrol in the last two weeks.

The crash, which occurred at 1:51 a.m. Sunday, also left two injured. According to UHP, a female driver, identified as Natalie Munchgesang, 26, was reported driving the wrong way, “traveling northbound in the southbound lanes on I-15 around milepost 269,” a press release stated.

UHP Trooper Carlos Rios-Redd responded and began heading south to locate the driver. Near milepost 271, the trooper and the wrong-way vehicle collided head-on.

Whether the trooper intended to stop the wrong-way vehicle or was surprised to come upon it so suddenly is under investigation by the Utah County Critical Incident Team, according to UHP spokesperson Sgt. Cameron Roden. “Rios-Redd said he was surprised that the vehicle was there and not anticipating the vehicle to be there so quickly and to having to take those measures to stop it,” he told the Daily Herald.

Munchgesang, the driver of the wrong-way vehicle, died at the scene after sustaining fatal injuries, the press release states. The passenger of the wrong-way vehicle, a female adult whose identity has not been released, was transported to an area hospital and reported to be in critical condition. Roden said there has been no update on her condition.

Rios-Redd sustained serious injuries and was transported to the hospital. “His injuries do not appear life-threatening. He is stable,” Roden said. “It will take some time and some surgeries, but we expect that he will make a full recovery.”

The Utah County Critical Incident Team is also investigating where Munchgesang entered the freeway and whether impairment from the use of alcohol was a factor in the driver going the wrong way. Roden added it was a short distance from the time the wrong-way driver was reported and the time the car was stopped.

Out of the six wrong-way incidents in the past two weeks on Utah roads, Roden said there have been two fatal crashes. Four of the incidents were confirmed to have involved alcohol, and the remaining two are under investigation, including Sunday’s crash. This year in Utah, there have been a total of six fatal wrong-way crashes, meaning one-third of fatalities due to wrong-way crashes in 2023 occurred in the past two weeks.

With six incidents in the past two weeks, “It’s definitely a spike,” Roden said. “What we’ve noticed is that it kind of comes and goes. Like, we’ll have several incidents at a time, but it is unusual to have this many. … It’s something that’s definitely kept (UHP’s) attention. …. We work really close with our stakeholders such as (the Utah Department of Transportation) to deploy anything, look for solutions and look for any type of countermeasures that we can do to help mitigate.”

Roden explained when a driver is going the wrong way due to confusion or distraction, they generally realize quickly and can correct their mistake “without causing a problem.” However, when a driver is going the wrong way due to alcohol or another substance causing impairment, and they do not realize quickly and UHP cannot stop the vehicle, “That’s when it gets really dangerous,” he said.

Shortly after the crash, Trooper Ben Fagan arrived on the scene and went to check on Rois-Redd, who was stuck in his car with serious injuries. Roden said, “He (Fagan) also noticed that the trooper car was on fire. So he broke out the window trying to extricate him (Rios-Redd), but seeing that the fire was growing, he was able to go back and get his fire extinguisher and put that fire out before they were able to pry that door open and get the trooper out.”

Gov. Spencer Cox posted on X after the incident: “Hero alert: At 2am dispatch received a wrong-way driver report heading northbound on I-15 in Orem. Troopers Carlos Rios-Redd and Ben Fagan responded without hesitation. At freeway speeds and on a blind dip the car appeared sooner than expected and Trooper Redd took it head on.

“Trooper Redd suffered a broken femur and ankle and was incapacitated while his car was caught fire. Fortunately, Trooper Fagan arrived shortly thereafter. He immediately extinguished the fire, broke the window with his hand and pulled Redd out as the cab was consumed in smoke.

“Tragically, the driver of the wrong-way vehicle was killed and our prayers are with her family. Trooper Redd has undergone surgery and is recovering. I am grateful for selfless and courageous law enforcement officials who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.”