Prosecutors have filed charges against an 81-year-old man investigators believe ran down a mother and her two young children while they waited at a Millcreek bus stop last month.
The accident left 9-year-old Brent Gatzemeier dead and his mother Flora and 3-year-old sister Rebecca hospitalized.
On Wednesday, Alfred William Kutchera was charged with negligent homicide and failure to stop at the scene of an injury accident, both class A misdemeanors. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and $2,500 fine. He also was charged with conducting an unsafe traffic movement, a class C misdemeanor, which could gain him an additional three months in jail.
Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Mike Leary, who heads up the county's major accident investigation team, said the misdemeanor charges were the maximum allowed under Utah law because Kutchera wasn't under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the incident. Leary interviewed Kutchera after the accident but couldn't determine if the man knew he had hit three people at the bus stop.
"He said he thought he hit a mailbox," Leary said. "Then he said he saw on the news that three people had been hit and he noticed, 'That's about the same place I hit the mailbox and I thought I might be in trouble.' Then he asked for his lawyer."
Less than 15 minutes after the 2 p.m. accident, Kutchera took his car to Steve's Automotive Service, 3911 S. 2300 East, and stated the blue Ford Taurus was "overheating," charges filed in 3rd District Court state.
About an hour before the accident, Kutchera met with a bank employee in Draper regarding some business transactions. The employee reported the man had some physical limitations while walking and stated, "I can't see very well," according to court documents.
Kutchera also told a sheriff's deputy he might have fallen asleep before hitting what he thought was a mailbox, the charges state.
UTA bus driver William Humphreys was approaching the bus stop at 1250 E. 4500 South when he saw a blue car swerve sharply into a garbage can and then strike the family. Another witness told police the driver would have had to have known he hit the curb, the people, the sign and the garbage can because of the loud noise and powerful collision that resulted from the wreck, court documents state.
Kutchera has never been arrested or booked into jail for the crimes he is now charged with. Leary said he will deliver a summons to Kutchera's lawyer ordering the 81-year-old to appear July 28 for an initial court appearance.
E-MAIL: bsnyder@desnews.com