LAKE POINT, Utah — A Utah Highway Patrol trooper stopped a wrong-way driver on Interstate 80 by slamming head-on into the other vehicle, causing parts of the highway to shut down.
Just before 3 p.m., UHP received reports of a driver heading eastbound in the westbound lanes near Lake Point.
A trooper in the area located the wrong-way driver and hit it head-on.
The wrong-way driver suffered minor injuries, while the trooper was not injured.
All lanes were closed at mile marker 100; however, lanes started to reopen at around 3:45 p.m.
The freeway was fully re-opened by 6 p.m.
Alex Whitbeck said he witnessed the high-speed head-on crash and was directly behind the UHP trooper. He expressed his gratitude to the trooper for risking his life to protect others.
"The officer decided he would put his life in front of mine and hit the driver head on. I was not even 50 feet behind the police car. I had my brother and my dog with me.. the collision had to be 120mph. There was at least 3 vehicles involved in this accident. I was in the middle of them all. Not a scratch on me, or my car," Whitbeck wrote in a Facebook post. "We had to pull the police officer out of his car. All he had to say was, “Can you write a statement?” Bro?? You almost died and you’re asking me for a statement? I don’t know you, but I love you brother. That took some balls. You saved countless lives today, and I’m forever grateful."
