Tow operator charged with lying to cops about bulldozer load securement in crash that killed two in Utah

A tow operator is facing multiple felony charges for his role in a double fatality incident that occurred in Ogden Canyon, Utah, over the summer.

Love’s Towing owner Michael John Love, 52, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter, one count of aggravated assault with serious injury, and two counts of obstructing justice, Fox13Now reports.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred July 6, 2024, in Ogden Canyon.

Officials say that Love was operating a tow truck hauling a mini-bulldozer east on SR-39 near mile marker 9. While negotiating a right hand curve, the bulldozer “broke free, sliding off the driver’s side.”

The bulldozer landed on top of a pickup towing a boat that was westbound on SR-39.

Richard Hendrickson, 57, and his 16 year old daughter Sally died in the crash. Another passenger in the pickup was hospitalized with major injuries.

Charging documents allege that Love failed to sufficiently secure the heavy equipment to his trailer, and that he lied to police.

See a round up of specific allegations against Love below.

• Shortly after the crash, police say that Love told them he’d secured the bulldozer with two chains in the back, two in the front, one over the bulldozer’s bucket, and a J hook. However, surveillance video from a nearby gas station reportedly showed that this was false. “The video clearly shows that there is only one hook secured to the front of the dozer, which is the ‘winch cable” attached and does not legally count as a secure attachment. On the back and middle of the dozer is a single chain to the bed of the truck,” charging documents state.
• A deputy reported seeing Love move chains from a storage compartment following the crash. He was ordered to stop moving the chains, as this was now a crime scene. “The fact that some of Michael Love’s first actions after the crash were to attempt to place more chains into the scene to indicate that bulldozer was secured properly, demonstrates that he knew the bulldozer was not properly secured,” the charging documents state.
• Love also allegedly told investigators that the pickup left its lane and struck his tow truck, causing the hauled equipment to break free, but this was determined to be false based on witness statements and other evidence.
• Police also said that the bulldozer at 32,000 pounds was 4,300 pounds over the tow truck’s weight limit.

Love was arrested on October 28 and is being held without bond due to a pending second-degree felony theft case and a third-degree felony case for false evidence, KSL reports.