CENTERVILLE, Utah — A man was arrested Tuesday after he almost ran over two people, then crashed his car into an area of dry grass, which then caught fire, according to Centerville Police.
The incident occurred right in front of a home that was set on fire by an intruder last month, allegedly in an attempt to kill them. However, police said Tuesday's crash was completely unrelated to that incident.
Around 4:40 p.m., an Acura being driven by 46-year-old Centerville resident Benjamin Young Wight swerved to the left while traveling east on 1825 North, according to police. The car went across the opposite lane and onto the sidewalk, where police say it "narrowly" missed two homeowners — but it plowed through the groceries that they were unloading from their car.
Wight's vehicle then ran over a mailbox, sideswiped a parked truck, swerved back to the right, went off the other side of the road, crashed through an electrical box and came to a stop on the side of a hill in some brush.
Police said the car's hot engine sparked a fire in the brush, but neighbors and officers were able to put it out quickly before it could spread up the mountain.
According to a statement from Centerville Police, Wight told them he stole compressed air from a Walmart store and inhaled it just before the crash. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, abuse of psychotoxic chemicals, reckless driving, and attempting to leave the scene of an accident.
The two people who he almost hit told police that they believed he swerved at them intentionally. Police are investigating to determine if that was the case.
Fortunately, nobody was injured.
