This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Susan Hunt — the mother of Darrien Hunt, the 22-year-old man shot and killed by Saratoga Springs police in 2014 — on Monday made her first court appearance for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs when she collided with a Utah Highway Patrol trooper in January.
Hunt, 52, is charged in 3rd District Court with class A misdemeanor reckless endangerment, class B misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, class C misdemeanor open container in a vehicle on a highway, along with disorderly conduct and driving on the wrong side of the roadway, both infractions.
Judge Robert Adkins on Monday set a pre-trial conference for July 19.
Meanwhile, the judge ordered Hunt to have no further violations, and to not possess or consume any alcohol.
On Jan. 26, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper was looking for a "reckless driver" at about 11 p.m. after a passerby on State Route 73 in Tooele reported a westbound vehicle was swerving on the road.
The trooper turned on his overhead lights as he found a car moving in and out of the southbound lane while traveling north on State Route 36 in Stockton, the report says.
The trooper pulled up next to the car and got Hunt to slowly move back into the northbound lane, the report says.
"The driver would not stop and was heading toward some homes on the east side of the road," the trooper said in the report. "At the time, I feared the driver would crash into a house and injure herself and residents in the homes."
He maneuvered his patrol car in front of Hunt's vehicle, and the driver side of her car "made contact" with the passenger side of the cruiser, the trooper says in the report.
"It just missed me," the trooper is heard saying on dashcam video of the incident.
After stopping Hunt, the trooper smelled a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Hunt and saw a case of beer and an open can of the beverage on the passenger floor, the report states. The trooper talked to Hunt for 13 minutes, trying to get her to exit the vehicle on the passenger side. She refused to exit and tried to start the car.
The trooper grabbed Hunt's right arm and she tried to hit him in the face, the report says. Another trooper helped the first officer remove Hunt from the car.
Hunt — who appeared to be suffering from a medical problem, as well as impairment, according to the report — was put in handcuffs and taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Hunt's son, Darrien Hunt, was shot in a Saratoga Springs parking lot in September 2014 after a 911 caller reported seeing a man carrying a sword. Darrien Hunt's family said he was cosplaying as a favorite manga comic character when police approached him.
The officers say they fired several shots after Hunt swung the sword at them. The Utah County attorney's office ruled the shooting was justified.