911 call reporting 12-year-old driver on I-15 released by police
Mar 19, 2024, 4:08 PM | Updated: Mar 28, 2024, 3:20 pm
Vehicles travel on I-15 in Salt Lake City on June 16. The freeway separates about a third of SLC residents from the rest of the city through an east-west divide. (Kristin Murphy/ Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy/ Deseret News)
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the driver went from North Salt Lake to Sandy.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Highway Patrol has released a 911 call from a semitruck driver who thought they were driving behind a drunk driver on I-15 earlier this month. To the police’s surprise, the driver ended up being a 12-year-old girl.
On the 911 call, the semi driver tells a dispatcher about a car swerving back and forth in front of her. She says that the driver is going about 50 mph on I-15.
What ensues is a 10-minute call.
Listen to the full call:
“I believe I’ve got a drunk driver in front of my semitruck,” the driver told the operator.
She said she was following the swerving driver with her hazard lights on. Their speeds varied from 50 to 35 mph.
The call started on southbound I-15 near North Salt Lake. It wasn’t until the two cars reached South Jordan that police took over.
Police used a PIT maneuver to stop her.
Then they discovered the 12-year-old girl alone in the driver’s seat.
She stole her mom’s car without the mother’s knowledge, according to police.
Police arrested the 12-year-old driver briefly before returning her to her parents.
