Auto homicide charge filed in fatal 2012 Uintah County crash

A 32-year-old man has been charged with automobile homicide for allegedly causing a fatal accident while driving drunk last year in Uintah County.

Ryan Scott Larsen is scheduled to be in 8th District Court on May 20 for his initial appearance on the charge of third-degree felony automobile homicide.

According to court documents, Larsen had a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or greater when he crashed his car in Uintah County on Feb. 10, 2012, killing 42-year-old Fort Duchesne resident Kimberly Ann McKewan and injuring a 43-year-old woman, who were passengers.

Uintah County Sheriff's officials have previously said that Larsen was driving a Dodge Durango northbound on Seep Ridge Road, when the vehicle tipped on its side about 20 miles south of Ouray, which is about 30 miles southwest of Vernal. Authorities said McKewan died at the scene of the 6 p.m. accident, while the other woman walked "quite a distance" from the crash and called for help.

Larsen was not on the scene when police arrived, according to sheriff's office authorities, but he was eventually found nearby.

According to Utah court records, Larsen had just been released from jail five days prior to the accident. A judge had just sentenced him to 10 days in jail and a year of probation for a 2011 DUI arrest. That was his second DUI conviction, after he was convicted for a misdemeanor DUI in 2004.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller