This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper was charged Monday with killing four Utah residents last month when his cruiser, going 113 mph, rear-ended their car while he was on duty.

A criminal complaint filed Monday in Las Vegas Justice Court charges Trooper Joshua M. Corcran with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and five counts of reckless driving. All the charges are felonies.

An arraignment is scheduled for today, after which Corcran could be booked into jail.

The Feb. 19 accident killed the driver of the 1988 Cadillac DeVille, Victor De La Cruz-De Leon, 21, of the southwestern Utah town of Washington. Three passengers were also killed: Jose Roberto Mejia Lang, 19, of Santa Clara; Jose Manuel Sanchez Lopez, 42, of St. George; and Reymunda Lopez-Vazquez, 21, of Washington.

Cecilia Lopez De La Cruz, 15, pregnant with twins, was critically injured in the crash. She suffered a head injury and a fractured back and pelvis. Her twins were OK when she left the hospital a couple of weeks ago.

A deposition by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer states the cause can be "solely attributed" to Corcran, who "failed to pay full attention to driving."

"At this point, it's in the hands of the district attorney," said Eva Garcia-Mendoza, De La Cruz's attorney. "We'll let the wheels of justice do what they have to do."

Corcran's attorney, Steve Wolfson, did not return a Tribune phone call. Last week, he told KLAS-TV in Las Vegas that he still wants specific points addressed, such as a witness who saw the Cadillac with its rear lights off moments before the accident, which occurred just south of Las Vegas.

Wolfson also told the TV station he was unsure if police looked into the possibility the Cadillac turned in front of Corcran's cruiser from an emergency turnaround, the story on the station's Web site states.

The attorney also said that Corcran was trying to catch up to a speeder but was not in a pursuit, which is why his red lights and siren were not on, the story says.

The police deposition states, however, that no witnesses observed a high-speed vehicle for Corcran to chase. The trooper never notified dispatch of a high-speed chase, and according to all Nevada Highway Patrol radio traffic, there were no stated or inferred emergencies Corcran was responding to, the deposition says.

The emergency lights and sirens on the car were never activated, the deposition states.

Corcran told dispatch "there was just a car sitting there and I couldn't do nothing. I ran into the back of them at full speed," according to the deposition.

The trooper, the document states, told his supervisor at the hospital the following: He was driving home to go to dinner and that he had an online history test to take at home that night. He had handled an accident and was making a lane change when all of a sudden the car was right in front of him. The next thing Corcran knew, he said, the air bag was hitting him.

Ford Motor Co. determined Corcran's car was traveling about 119 mph 25 seconds to 10 seconds prior to the collision, the police deposition states.

The car decelerated "very slowly over the next 10 seconds" to a 113 mph impact speed. The Cadillac was going 52 mph, the deposition states.

The posted speed limit in the area is 65 mph.

Corcran is on medical leave with a broken arm, said NHP spokesman Trooper Kevin Honea. The NHP's crash review board was waiting for the Clark County District Attorney's Office to release the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's crash investigation before it starts its own inquiry.