Crashes near Moab claim two | The Salt Lake Tribune

Accidents • Driver in head-on collision in critical condition.

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Two men were killed in separate traffic crashes Saturday near Moab.

At 8:30 p.m., a 32-year-old Phoenix man was driving a stolen Ford Taurus south on U.S. Highway 191 about 15 miles south of Moab, Utah Highway Patrol troopers wrote in a press release on Sunday. He was speeding and crossed the center line, troopers wrote. An oncoming Ford Escape could not avoid the Taurus, and the two cars crashed head-on.

The driver of the Escape, Filemon Montoya, 57, of Sweetwater, Texas, died at the scene. The driver of the stolen Taurus was critically injured; he was flown to a hospital in Grand Junction, Colo. Investigators believe the driver of the Taurus was drunk at the time of the crash, said UHP Sgt. Ted Tingey.

In a separate crash earlier on Saturday, Ricky L. Rush, 37, of Salt Lake City was driving west on Kane Creek Road, a dirt road about seven miles southeast of Moab, according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office.

About 3 p.m., Rusch veered off the right side of the road. His truck hit a large boulder and rolled. Rush was thrown from the pickup and it rolled over him.

Rush died at the scene. He was the only person in the truck.

The Grand County Sheriff is investigating what caused the accident.

lwhitehurst@sltrib.com

@lwhitehurst