Utah Highway Patrol confirms that a man suspected of intoxication interfered on the scene of the triple fatality motorcycle accident that occurred
Thursday morning
on SR-35 west of Hanna. 56-year-old Bruce Joe Curry was arrested and booked into Duchesne County Jail for the offenses of Reckless Endangerment, Interfering With an Officer, Obstruction of Justice, Criminal Mischief, Intoxication, and Disorderly Conduct on July 19th at 11:27am. According to UHP, Curry was wandering through the scene, fiddling with the motorcycles, trying to take items off the bikes, and even tried to get in the ambulance where they were working on one of the victims that later died. CPR had to be stopped for a few moments as Curry was dealt with. According to the probable cause statement, the trooper had been asked by EMS to help with chest compressions because there were so many patients on scene and few medical personnel. As the officer helped, he could see Curry outside the ambulance “causing a disturbance and creating a hostile environment with witnesses and friends of the deceased and injured parties.” The officer then exited the ambulance and asked Curry to leave the scene, which he refused to do. Curry resisted arrest and two officers were needed. The officer was unable to continue assisting EMS with the female crash victim who passed away a short time later while in route to meet Life Flight at the Duchesne Airport. The officer also noted that there was a strong odor of alcohol coming from Curry’s breath. “This was a difficult situation,” shares UHP Lt. Todd Royce. “We were looking at 2 fatalities and 2 critical injuries at the time and we had to deal with [Curry]. That makes things harder on the first responders and the officers doing their jobs.” The accident occurred while a group of motorcyclists were traveling northbound on SR-35 Wolf Creek Pass when one bike went down and was struck by two more bikes
at 10:30am
. The crash involved three male riders and one female passenger. The surviving male was life flighted to a Wasatch Front hospital and remains in critical condition. *** Update and Victims’ Names Released by UHP***
There are no indications of impairment or high speeds. The crash is still under investigation. It appears that helmets were worn by all victims. Vehicles: Veh Num: 1 Year: 2008 Make/Model: Yamaha / Motorcycle Color: Black The driver of this motorcycle was Anthony M Cooper(Deceased) 69 year old male from Hitchcock Texas– Veh Num: 2 Year: 2002 Make/Model: Yamaha / Motorcycle Color: Black The driver was Jason Murray 50 year old male from Wichita, Kansas. He was flown to IMC hospital in critical condition and remains in critical condition. His passenger was Judith Murray 53 year old female from Wichita, Kansas and she is deceased.— Veh Num: 3 Year: 2000 Make/Model: Yamaha / Motorcycle Color: Red The driver was John Kwiatkowski 62 year old male from Conroe, Texas and he is deceased.
