A 46-year-old man, Sabino Lazaro-Javier, has been taken into custody following a hit-and-run incident in West Jordan that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist. According to KUTV, Lazaro-Javier is facing allegations of withholding critical information from the police and attempting to cover up his involvement in the fatal crash that occurred on March 25.
The investigation kicked off after authorities received a dispatch to a crash at Gardner Lane and Redwood Road, where an SUV collided with a motorcycle before fleeing the scene. KSL reported that the motorcyclist, later identified as 23-year-old Garrett Randall Pace, was taken to a hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Police managed to later find the suspect vehicle, a 2002 GMC Yukon with significant damage, and items linking it to the crash.
Lazaro-Javier was subsequently arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday for investigation of two counts of obstruction of justice. In an initial statement, he claimed the SUV was stolen, as noted by Gephardt Daily, but he later admitted to possessing knowledge of the crash, stating his co-worker was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.
Moreover, Lazaro-Javier confessed to having hastily called 911 to falsely report his vehicle stolen and deleted the call records on his phone after speaking with the co-worker, in an apparent attempt to mislead the ongoing investigation. These actions have placed him squarely amid legal consequences, as authorities continue to look for the co-worker, identified only as Ponciano, who allegedly was driving during the incident. The charges against Lazaro-Javier have been classified as a class A misdemeanor under Utah statute 76-8-306, which pertains to hindering the investigation of a second- or third-degree felony.
