Witnesses testify about scene where Santaquin officer was killed by semitruck driver

PROVO — Utah Highway Patrol trooper Dustin Griffiths recalled thinking about the complexity of pursuing the semitruck that had just taken off as he ran to his car.

He didn't see the semitruck flip around and start heading toward him and Santaquin Police Sgt. Bill Hooser.

Hooser was pushed into the UHP car and then pulled from the front of the car to the ground, Griffiths said, recounting the events in Santaquin on May 5, 2024.

Griffiths testified Tuesday on the first day of Michael Jayne's preliminary hearing. Jayne, 43, of Garrett, Indiana, is charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense, and accused of killing Hooser.

Jayne is also charged with two counts of attempted aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping, first-degree felonies; three counts of theft of a vehicle, a second-degree felony; property damage, two counts of failure to stop at the command of police and attempted theft of a firearm or vehicle, third-degree felonies; and misdemeanors for reckless endangerment, possession or use of a controlled substance, driving under the influence.

Traffic stop

Griffiths was responding to a report that someone was on the back of the semitruck. He had "a hunch" that the person who called in the issue was the driver of the semitruck because the caller remained on the line but stopped giving updates.

He started looking for the vehicle in Nephi, and Hooser joined him in Santaquin, where the semitruck exited the freeway, ran a stop sign and entered again before being pulled over. Griffiths said Jayne was not cooperative and denied knowing the woman who had just exited the semitruck.

Hooser spoke with the woman, Christine Hinckley, and motioned to tell Griffiths that they should arrest the man. Instead, the man drove away.

In dashboard camera footage, you can hear Hinckley yelling, "Hurt me, he's gonna hurt me," as she runs from the semitruck that had turned around to face them. The footage shows Hooser starting to get into his car when he notices the semitruck's direction, and he instead starts running.

Griffiths reported that an officer was down before he pulled out a firearm and approached the semitruck driver.

He said he realized Hooser had been killed when he saw two officers standing over a body, not rendering aid.

'Manipulative'

Hinckley testified that Jayne had threatened to kill her in the days before, but that was not abnormal in their relationship. She was traveling with him across the country, but around St. George he was acting strange enough that she decided to stay behind at a truck stop in Beaver.

Jayne, however, came back and threatened her. She said she can remember the pressure from a knife in her side and a spray can — she said maybe pepper spray or bear spray — on her nose.

"If you don't get in this truck, I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill everybody in this store," she testified that he told her.

She started "acting nice" at that point and went with him. Hinckley said he began looking out from the sleeping area of the truck and claimed he saw "Hells Angels," something he often referred to. She said he called 911 and claimed there was a semitruck "driving in distress" being chased by bikers.

Hinckley said he was yelling, "Get off" at the side-view mirror and shouting at her that she was going to die.

"His driving was very dangerous and fast. … I was afraid I was going to be ejected," Hinckley said.

After the semi stopped for the officers, she moved into the passenger seat and jumped out of the truck. She said while talking to Hooser, she locked eyes with Jayne in the semitruck's mirror and saw him start to move as if he was going to drive. She said although he had done drugs about 24 hours previously, she didn't think that is what was affecting him.

"I think that he's a lot smarter and manipulative than you think," she testified.

She said Hooser didn't believe her when she told him Jayne was going to turn around and hit them, but that is what happened — he turned the semitruck "like a pro," and the sergeant was not able to get away.

"He wasn't even looking at the truck going toward him. ... It was so fast," she said, later adding, "I was just trying to survive at that point."

Hinckley said she felt the force of the truck and will never forget the sound of Hooser being hit.

'He was going to kill me'

Hinckley said she heard police say Jayne wasn't in the cab, and a nearby semitruck was stolen, so Hinckley said she thought Jayne was coming back to "finish the job." That's why she said she got into Hooser's car to drive away. She was emotional Tuesday as she described a vague memory of seeing a call to Hooser's phone while in his car that may have been his wife.

After watching the dashboard camera footage, she said, unprompted, that she remembers the sound likely made by rumble strips. She said she daily reviews what happened on that day and is "crippled because of it."

Hinckley's testimony was inconsistent at times; she reported remembering being on the freeway when the truck passed, but video shows her on the side of the road. She remembered new details as attorneys asked questions during her testimony. At the end of her testimony, Hinckley admitted she had current problems with drugs and had used drugs earlier on Tuesday morning.

Jayne's attorney, Rudy Bautista, pointed out comments she made to an investigator he had hired. Those comments, Bautista said, included that she had maintained eye contact with Jayne as he drove toward her and she thought he had realized he loved her and changed course, but turned instead toward the officers. She testified that there are a lot of blind spots when driving a semitruck and that it was possible Jayne was looking at her, and by the time he decided not to hit her, he couldn't see the officer.

"He was going to kill me. This was a domestic violence thing, not a war on police. I'm sorry the cop died, but it was not a war on police," Hinckley said.

High-speed pursuit

Multiple people testified Tuesday about Jayne's actions after he ran from the scene and traveled to multiple cities in stolen vehicles before he was eventually apprehended. An officer reviewed video of him taking a semitruck from a nearby gas station and getting on the freeway going south. A Mona woman testified about noticing her truck was missing and alerting police, and a man testified about footage of Jayne walking through his Mt. Pleasant home and taking his white truck.

Scott Major, with the Utah Highway Patrol, testified about joining a pursuit of Jayne in that white truck in Uintah County. He said the situation was "extremely dangerous" because of how dangerously the man was driving. He said Jayne was driving in lanes against traffic and around curves in an area where they often see accidents.

When Major performed a PIT maneuver at 105 mph, he said the truck rolled multiple times before coming to a stop, and police were able to take Jayne into custody. At that speed, he testified a PIT maneuver is treated like lethal force.

At the end of the hearing on Tuesday, deputy Utah County attorney Chad Grunander said he anticipates he will not call any more witnesses but asked to wait to rest his case until the start of the second preliminary hearing date on Jan. 30. At the end of the preliminary hearing, a judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to order Jayne to stand trial.

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