Homeowner upset about reckless driver's quick release from jail


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SALT LAKE CITY — Debra Gutierrez is still stunned by the damage to her living room, dining room and kitchen.

"It sounded like a freight train trying to come through the house," she said Wednesday, standing in the middle of broken glass, plastic and wood strewn across the floor of the front half of her house near Rosewood Park on Salt Lake City's west side.

Two days ago, 39-year-old Bernabe Urcino-Saldago plowed into the front of her house at 9 a.m. According to a probable cause statement, he told police he'd had 36 beers and used cocaine.

Salt Lake County jail records show Urcino arrived 12:19 p.m. and bailed out 5 hours and 19 minutes later. The home is unlivable right now, while the man who caused the damage is back at work.

Gutierrez is upset Urcino spent so little time behind bars.

"You can't even be safe in your own home," she said. "I was rudely awoken with glass shattering, and this horrible sound."

She was sleeping in a back room when Urcino's pickup truck crashed into her home.

On Monday, March 30, 2015, 39-year-old Bernabe Urcino-Saldago plowed into the front of Debra Gutierrez's Salt Lake City house at 9 a.m. According to a probable cause statement, he told police he'd had 36 beers and used cocaine. (Photo: Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office)
On Monday, March 30, 2015, 39-year-old Bernabe Urcino-Saldago plowed into the front of Debra Gutierrez's Salt Lake City house at 9 a.m. According to a probable cause statement, he told police he'd had 36 beers and used cocaine. (Photo: Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office)

"Took my nightgown off, threw my clothes on, ran out the back door and yelled for my son to call 911," Gutierrez said.

The driver was unconscious, with the engine still revving. Her son pulled the driver's foot off the accelerator.

"He slapped him in the face and tried to revive him, because he thought he was dead," Gutierrez said.

"This wall saved our life," she said, pointing to the wall that divides the living room, dining room and kitchen. "Or, the truck would've went all the way through the house."

Just 10 minutes before truck plowed in, Gutierrez's husband had been watching TV right where the truck ended up.

"It's chaos," she said.

Urcino was arrested on suspicion of DUI, negligent collision and driving without a license. He bailed out with nearly $1,600 before 5:30 p.m. When Guterriez saw that on the jail's website, she was mad.

"If you're that impaired that you ran through somebody's house, and nearly killed them, I don't think you should've been let back out on the streets so that you could potentially do someone else harm," she said.

Jail spokeswoman Sgt. Cammie Skogg says suspects are medically screened to make sure they can go through the booking process, and are not released intoxicated. If they are not coherent enough to go through the booking process, they are taken to the hospital, and not taken back to the jail until they are ready.

"He was coherent enough get through the process, make bail, and then be released from the facility," Skogg said.


If you're that impaired that you ran through somebody's house, and nearly killed them, I don't think you should've been let back out on the streets so that you could potentially do someone else harm.

–Debra Gutierrez, SLC homeowner


By law, jail officials cannot hold him after he meets that criteria and makes bail. Salt Lake City police don't yet have the results of Urcino's blood tests.

Urcino lives within sight of Gutierrez's home. They said he shared the three dozen beers with friends the night before, and denied cocaine use to them. They said he was on his way to work, and apparently sober, when he crashed into the home.

But to Gutierrez, it just doesn't seem right.

"He was already back out on the street," she said.

Gutierrez said Urcino's son came over and apologized. She felt better about that, but her family will have to stay in a hotel until their home is fixed.

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Jed Boal

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