UHP Says a Driver in Crash Was DUI

KNOLLS, Tooele County — The Utah Highway Patrol said toxicology results have come back on a crash that killed three people on I-80 about 11 miles west of here.

The Utah Highway Patrol confirmed on Wednesday that the 22-year- old driver of a white pickup going the wrong way on I-80 tested positive for alcohol and drug use.

“It was over the legal limit,” said UHP trooper Preston Raban, adding that the case will now be referred to Tooele County prosecutors for possible charges.

In November 2006, troopers said the Chevrolet pickup was reported to be driving into oncoming traffic for several miles on I-80 before slamming into a Pontiac Bonneville carrying four people. The Pontiac’s driver, 43-year-old Vakataha Mila of West Valley City, was killed. Two passengers in the back seat, Valentine Kioa, 50, and Sosaio Fehoko, 69, both of Salt Lake City, also died on impact.

“It was going towards Wendover in the lanes coming towards Salt Lake,” UHP trooper Randy Akers said at the time. There was no signs of the truck crossing over the median on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Troopers surmised that the closest point the vehicle could have accessed I-80 would have been the Knolls interchange.

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