By Travis Uresk
5/1/24
| Duchesne County | April 26th, 2024 |
At 2:00 am, police were dispatched to a rollover crash on SR-87 near milepost 15.
When Trooper Smith arrived on the scene, two Duchesne County Deputies were on scene, as well as EMS and Fire. The trooper spoke with the deputies, where he was informed that the driver had refused medical treatment from the paramedics and wanted to go straight to jail.
The deputies had the driver sitting in the back of one of the patrol vehicles, and she was saying there were other people in the car with her. Trooper Smith went over to the crash site and spoke with the firefighters to assess the situation.
The trooper observed tire marks showing the driver crossed over the center line and back into her lane before driving off the right shoulder and down a ravine, where the car came to a stop, laying on its side.
The firefighters were preparing to do a grid search as the suspect said there were children in the car with her during the crash. No passengers were found.
Trooper Smith spoke with the driver, 51-year-old Julia Marie Estes. She was acting unusual and jitterily. The trooper wanted to make sure Julia wasn't under the influence of any drugs or alcohol and asked her if she would be willing to perform the Standard Field Sobriety tests (SFSTs), and she agreed.
"I began to administer the tests, only finishing the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, where I did not observe any clues. However, she was unable to follow directions well or maintain focus on the test being administered. I began the walk-and-turn test when she began to cry in pain and complain about pain in her back and abdomen. I stopped the tests as she was clearly unable to perform the Walk and Turn or the One leg Stand test with the apparent injuries she was complaining about."~Trooper Smith
With her behavior, the failure to maintain focus, the talking to nonexistent people, and thinking there were more people in the car with her, Trooper Smith suspected the use of meth and asked Julia when was the last time she used it. Julia stated she had used meth the day before. With Julia unable to perform the SFST's, the trooper had to rely on her behavior and the admonition of the methamphetamine use.
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