WASHINGTON COUNTY – The same uninsured 2008 white GMC pickup truck was involved in not one, but two separate Interstate 15 accidents Wednesday, requiring two separate tows and an impound and, ultimately, leading to the driver’s arrest.
On the scene of the second accident, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Matthew Pratt said a call came into dispatch at 8:56 p.m. indicating that a motorist had “gone over a cliff” near mile marker 27 while traveling south on I-15.
The driver, in fact, had not gone over a cliff, but instead launched his truck across the median before being caught by a guardrail, which prevented his truck from traveling into the oncoming northbound traffic. It took a combination of responders from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, UHP, UDOT – Incident Management and Leeds Fire and Rescue to resolve and process the accident scene.
Associated Food Stores truck driver Brent Turner said he saw the entire accident unfold and immediately pulled to the side of the road to call for assistance.
“(The driver of the truck) was going southbound and then went off the shoulder and swerved to the left and went airborne through the median and ran into the (guardrail),” he said. “He was going pretty fast.”
Although the truck caught air and only the guardrail prevented it from entering oncoming traffic, Pratt said the 35-year-old driver, Armando Hector Leyva Jr., of California, was most likely driving below the speed limit at the time of the accident.
“Had he been doing the speed limit – 80 mph – the guardrail wouldn’t have contained him,” Pratt said.
Despite the possible danger to himself, Turner said, he was concerned there may have been children in the vehicle and so, under the advisement of a 911 operator, went to check on the passengers in the truck. When he got to the truck, he found Leyva in the vehicle by himself and in a slightly incoherent state, babbling and not making much sense. No other vehicles had been involved in the collision.
While hurrying to check on the driver, Turner said, he forgot to lock the air brake on his own vehicle, which caused the rig and the front trailer of two he was hauling to slide slightly off of the road. A tow truck had to be called in to pull the rig upright and back onto the highway.
When Pratt arrived on the scene, he said, it had been about seven minutes since the initial call came in to dispatch, and the driver of the truck, Leyva, had already been transported by Leeds Area Ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center. Pratt said he was under the impression that Leyva had suffered only minor injuries as a result of the crash. Later, during the investigation, it was confirmed that Leyva had suffered minor back injuries.
The mangled remnants of the truck Leyva had been driving, which was a company vehicle from his workplace in California and was uninsured, was hauled to the Moss Towing yard in Hurricane.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that, when the accident occurred, Leyva had been driving home to California after coming to Utah to finish some cabinetry work for his employer.
This was not Leyva’s first accident of the day, the trooper said. At about 4 p.m. somewhere in Iron County, Leyva had been involved in another collision, for which he was cited for improper lane change, driving without insurance and driving on an out-of-state suspended or revoked license.
Pratt said Levya was told not to drive anymore but was not taken into custody at that time, because the truck had so much damage that officers didn’t believe it was operable. During the investigation into Leyva’s second accident, Pratt said, Leyva told him he had replaced two tires on the truck before continuing on his journey home.
At that time, he said, Leyva also admitted to driving under the influence of narcotic medications.
Leyva was taken into custody at the hospital and was booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility at 11:48 p.m. Wednesday, according to current bookings information. As of 11:50 a.m. Thursday, he was still in police custody.
For the second time Wednesday, Leyva was charged with improper lane change, a class C misdemeanor. He was also charged with three class B misdemeanors for driving without insurance for the second time in three years; driving on a suspended or revoked out-of-state license; and driving with a measurable controlled substance.
According to bookings information, a bondable bail has been set for Leyva in the amount of $2,770.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
A motorist launches a company truck across the southbound median and is caught by a guardrail on I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 4, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
Moss Towing, 440 N. 2260 West, Hurricane loads totaled 2008 GMC pickup onto the back of his truck to haul back to his yard | Photo courtesy of Carin Miller, St. George News
A good Samaritan who pulled over to help had to have a tow truck pull his vehicle back onto I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 3, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
A motorist launches a company truck across the southbound median and is caught by a guardrail on I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 4, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
A motorist launches a company truck across the southbound median and is caught by a guardrail on I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 4, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
A motorist launches a company truck across the southbound median and is caught by a guardrail on I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 4, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
A motorist launches a company truck across the southbound median and is caught by a guardrail on I-15, Washington County, Utah, Dec. 4, 2014 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News
Armando Hector Leyva Jr., of California, booking photo posted Dec. 3, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
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What a peach.
Armando… oh my hector! What the hector are you doing, driving so illegally?
Needless to say he probably should not have been given his vehicle back the first time. What was Iron county thinking?
Maybe they were thinking “get him the heck out of our county, let him go somewhere else to kill somebody?”
That confirms it: the worst drivers in the nation have gotta be Californians driving anywhere else ‘cept California! XD
Wow there had been a lot of accidents lately
no, it’s been slow actually
California drivers.? Thats a world by itself
Apparently there is little to prevent this behavior from continuing? Revoked license, no insurance, DUI. Rather than another slap on the wrist, why not 6 months in the slammer?
PS make sure you’ve got uninsured as well as underinsured on your auto policies! And make sure your seal belt is on tight!
This guy may get the book thrown at him. I think it depends on if he has connections. St George is a Good Ol Boys town. Consequences for failure to obey laws vary widely. But yes, make sure you have uninsured drivers insurance and do keep your seatbelts on corectly
Reminds me of the old joke about putting black boxes in pickup trucks to find out why so many were in accidents. When the recording were played back, the driver was heard on 99% of them saying, “Here, hold my beer and watch this!”
Good thing Mr. Leyva didn’t get killed but he might not be home for the holidays.
Thanks you for putting everyone’s lives in danger because of your ignorance. He needs to stay in jail.
I completely agree with you and leave him there
let’s get him baptized and temple worthy and run him for city council…
Fundraiser
An outstanding candidate for the Washington County Sheriff Department or Utah Highway Patrol.