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PROVO — Nearly 11 months after a Utah County sheriff's deputy hit and killed a BYU student while responding to a SWAT standoff, the Utah County Attorney's Office has now handed the case over to another agency to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.
Utah County Attorney David Leavitt announced Tuesday that the investigation into the fatal crash was now in the hands of the Summit County Attorney's Office.
"I've been in contact with Margaret Olsen, the Summit County attorney. She has agreed to review this independently," Leavitt said in a prepared statement. "We want that county attorney to review and make the charging decision with objectivity and fairness."
On March 16, Joseph Spencer, 22, was pulling out of a Taco Bell, 433 N. 900 East, when his Toyota Avalon was hit on the driver's side door by a Toyota Tacoma. Spencer was killed. The driver of the Tacoma was a member or the Utah County Sheriff's SWAT team who was responding to a large police standoff in Pleasant Grove involving a man with a gun barricaded inside his house.
The Tacoma was the deputy's personal vehicle and not a police vehicle, meaning it was not equipped with flashing lights or sirens. "The Tacoma was traveling above the posted speed limit" when it hit Spencer's vehicle, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Multiple law enforcement agencies have been involved in the crash investigation, according to Leavitt.
"The Utah County Attorney's Office reviewed the information provided and in consultation with those agencies, determined additional investigation was necessary. That additional investigation was recently completed," Leavitt said.
But because Leavitt's office represents the Utah County Sheriff's Office, spokeswoman Sherrie Hall Everett said the decision was made to let another agency determine whether criminal charges should be filed in order to ensure the decision is objective and that there is no conflict of interest.
She said the decision to have the Summit County Attorney's Office review the case for possible charges was made out of an "abundance of caution," and that Leavitt wanted to assure that his office was "hands off" when it came to making a decision. Everett also noted that just because another agency is reviewing the case, it should not be assumed that the investigation reached a conclusion that criminal charges are warranted.
It was unknown Tuesday how long it will take the Summit County Attorney's Office to reach a decision.
