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CISCO, Grand County — A 56-year-old semitruck driver accused of causing a crash that killed one person and injured two others while intoxicated has been charged.
Mauricio Maddox-Zavala was charged Thursday in 7th District Court with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; three counts of negligently operating a vehicle causing serious injury and obstruction, class A misdmeanors; DUI, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors; and failing to stay in a lane, an infraction.
Tracey Haeggstrom, 67, of Orange, California, was killed in the crash early Sunday. Prosecutors say Maddox-Zavala was driving a semitruck eastbound on I-70 about 10 miles west of the Colorado border in Grand County about 4:40 a.m. when he "drove off the right side of the roadway for an unknown reason. He then overcorrected, causing his tractor trailer to overturn onto the passenger side," according to charging documents.
An oncoming RV hit the overturned semitruck. Haeggstrom — who was in the front passenger seat of the RV — died at the scene. The driver and two other passengers were injured, the charges state. The Utah Highway Patrol said the injuries ranged from serious to critical.
During their investigation, troopers found a discarded THC vape pen in the bushes near the crash and determined Zavala had placed it there.
"While on scene I observed multiple indicators of impairment coming from the suspect," the arresting trooper wrote in a booking affidavit. "Based on the totality of the circumstances, I believe the suspect operated a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance, impairing his ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. I also believe the suspect operated his vehicle in criminally negligent manner causing the death of another."
Zavala was taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries and booked into jail after being released.
Contributing: Bridger Beal-Cvetko
