SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A new suspect has been arrested for a fatal auto-pedestrian accident that happened two months ago, according to South Salt Lake City Police.
Richard Bice, 56, was arrested and booked with counts of failing to remain at an accident with serious injury and death and one count of obstruction of justice.
Police said the original suspect, Ryan Kidrick, is still in jail because of the obstruction of justice charge.
According to police, Bice was arrested Wednesday and confessed to being the driver in the April 9 crash that killed one man and sent another to the hospital with critical injuries.
Bice told officers details only the driver would know in the interview, according to the probable cause statement, and said he fled the scene because he had a denied driver's license and was afraid of being charged with driving under the influence because he uses Methadone, which is a narcotic used for severe pain.
Kidrick was originally arrested on April 2 after a witness to the crash identified him in a photo lineup.
According to a warrant issued by police, Kidrick's girlfriend called police and said she had evidence showing Kidrick was innocent; however, she failed to show up to two meetings scheduled with police.
Kidrick was then bailed out of jail and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to police.
Police said they went to Kidrick's residence to perform a search warrant and re-arrested him while detaining his sister, mother and girlfriend in the backyard.
Kidrick then told police he wanted to speak with them. According to police, Kidrick said Bice told Kidrick he was the one who was driving that night and asked Kidrick to get rid of a coat.
Kidrick's girlfriend helped police locate the coat and police said she told them Bice had given Kidrick's mother some gold-plated money, possibly as a bribe.
Kidrick was then reinterviewed by police and said Bice had admitted to him he was the driver that night, and police said that story was almost identical to the account his girlfriend told police.
"Ryan stated that he could get Danny to confess on the phone if we called him. Due to this using my phone, I spoofed Ryan’s home phone number and called
Danny. Ryan spoke to Danny. Danny did not say anything except he wanted to talk to him in person," the warrant said.
Police said Kidrick's girlfriend said she had evidence of Kidrick being at home during the crash on her cell phone, but the phone was damaged.
She also said they were working on a web camera and Kidrick had used his voice to download the app; police said there is evidence of the app being downloaded the day after the crash.
"There was no information found that Ryan was home during the crash," the warrant says.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
