DUI blamed for fatal I-15 car-motorcycle crash

Arrest made • Provo man faces DUI and automobile homicide allegations, UHP says.

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Utah Highway Patrol suspects an intoxicated driver may be to blame for a fatal car-motorcycle crash on Interstate 15 early Friday morning.

UHP Cpl. Todd Johnson said the crash occurred about 1 a.m. on southbound I-15 in Lindon when a Mitsubishi Galant rear-ended a Kawasaki motorcycle with two men on board. The collision spilled both bike riders onto the asphalt, where the rear passenger was subsequently run over by three vehicles.

Johnson said no skid marks were found at the accident scene, indicating the Mitsubishi did not brake prior to the collision and may have been traveling at freeway speeds.

The victim, identified as Juan Ernesto Salazar Conce, 31, of Orem, was dead at the scene. The bike's driver, Irving Tellez Acevedo, 23, of Spanish Fork, was taken to Utah Regional Medical Center in Provo with non-life threatening injuries.

Both occupants of the bike were wearing helmets, UHP said.

The driver of the car, a 21-year-old Provo man, was uninjured, but was arrested at the scene on suspicion of automobile homicide and driving while under the influence of alcohol, Johnson said.

remims@sltrib.com