A suspected DUI driver was arrested last Saturday night after crashing a pickup truck into a power pole in Cedar City.
The incident occurred shortly after 9:30 p.m. and involved a man driving a black GMC Denali truck. The truck was heading northbound on Sage Drive at a fast speed. As it approached the intersection with Ridge Road, the truck went off the road, struck a power pole, hit a brick wall and rolled down the hill.
The driver then got out of the vehicle and ran up the road, where he was apprehended by the police.
The suspect, a 25-year old man named Kevin Chavez Cerna, was arrested for a suspected DUI and was booked into Iron County Jail. He faces charges of property damage greater than $5,000, a second-degree felony; DUI, a Class A misdemeanor; and failing to comply with duties at the scene of a vehicle accident, a Class B misdemeanor.
He was arrested under probable cause, where authorities said that he smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and was only wearing one shoe, and the other was located inside the wrecked vehicle. This marks Cerna’s second DUI offence within 10 years.
The affected section of Sage Drive was closed for two to three hours following the incident, where crews from Rocky Mountain Power worked to repair the damage done to the pole.
The wrecked vehicle was towed later that night.
Author: Conner Dean
Photo: Jeff Richards, Cedar City News
Editor: Hannah Clove
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