UHP Lieutenant puts life in danger to protect construction crew on I-15

With no other choice, Lt. Cox cut her off with a collision that put his vehicle’s right front corner to her right front corner. The impact spun Cox’s vehicle around and deployed the airbags in both vehicles. Luckily, nobody sustained any serious injuries. Photo: Utah Department of Public Safety.

SALT LAKE CITY — On April 2, Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) Lt. Jacob Cox performed an extreme act of heroism as he intercepted a vehicle that had entered a construction zone and could have crashed into construction workers.

On April 2 UHP Trooper Jacob Cox put himself and his patrol car between an impaired driver and a freeway work crew, probably saving lives. Today we had an opportunity to thank Lt. Cox personally for his heroism. Click here for a detailed incident account: https://t.co/IulWtlG1hH pic.twitter.com/xRZxBgBuo0

— Carlos Braceras (@CarlosUDOT) April 12, 2022

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Just before 1:35 a.m., Lt. Cox noticed a vehicle enter the closed area of southbound I-15 between 700 South and Antelope Drive.

Notably, only one lane of traffic was open at the time to give construction crews plenty of room to conduct their operations. However, after a vehicle entered the construction zone, Lt. Cox turned on his siren and headlights to try and intercept the vehicle. Despite his attempt to intercept her, the driver swerved to get around him in the No. 2 lane.

“The last place I saw the concrete cutter was in the No. 2 lane,” Cox said.

“This is the type of heroism we see from Utah Highway Patrol troopers on a regular basis,” the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement. “They stop wrong-way drivers. They protect the public and they protect our construction workers. We are grateful to UHP and to Lt. Cox that these workers were able to go home safely last week.”

The woman was arrested after a preliminary test detected the presence of alcohol. Investigators are awaiting the final results of a blood analysis.