POLICE: Truck driver charged for ‘several motor vehicle crashes’ after operating rig while impaired

A truck driver has been charged with driving under the influence after causing multiple accidents, police say. 

The series of crashes occured in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 17th. 

According to a police affidavit, 33-year-old Jaramiah Colby Olsen “was involved in several motor vehicle crashes,’ the first of which occurred on Highway 89, where Olsen crossed the centerline and sideswiped another tractor trailer. After the sideswipe, Olsen continued driving onto Route 12 before pulling into a restaurant and hotel parking lot where he “struck a couple of buildings.”

Olsen then continued on to the Garfield landfill where “a witness watched him drive off the road several more times,” the affidavit states.

When the police eventually caught up to Olsen, officers say they witnessed him “stumble out of his truck and attempt to stumble away from troopers.”

Upon inspection of the rig, officers discovered an open bottle of alcohol in the cab, though Olsen claimed that he “drank a lot last night before going to sleep but nothing today.” The affidavit also states that, when questioned, several other truck drivers divulged that they believe Olsen may have a drinking and meth problem, reported KSL News.

On Wednesday, September 23rd, Olsen was charged with criminal mischief, a second-degree felony; failing to report an accident, DUI and refusing a chemical test, all class B misdemeanors; as well as having an open container in his vehicle, a class C misdemeanor.