Chase-related fatality identified as teen Layton girl

Speed a factor » Girl died after coming up on stalled I-15 traffic too fast.

By Bob Mims

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 26 2013 11:24 am • Last Updated Feb 26 2013 02:50 pm

The Utah Highway Patrol has identified the driver who died in a crash connected to a Monday evening traffic jam on Interstate 15 during a multi-law enforcement agency chase of a bank robbery suspect.

UHP Cpl. Todd Johnson said Maria Herrera, 18, of Layton, died in the 8:19 p.m. Monday crash in the northbound lanes of I-15, midway between Bountiful and Farmington.

Herrera was driving a 2003 Subaru Legacy when she came upon the congested traffic too fast to stop. After veering into the left emergency lane and then over-correcting into the right lane, she collided first with a Hyundai passenger car and then spun into the back of a semi-tractor rig.

Herrera, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and suffered fatal injuries, Johnson said.

The driver of the Hyundai, a 42-year-old Alpine man, was transported to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The semi’s driver was unhurt.

Traffic at the accident scene had come to a stop after police ended a chase with the bank robbery suspect on I-15 near Kaysville.

The armed suspect was stopped after UHP spiked the tires of his pickup truck and Davis County Sheriff’s officers then used an armored car to force the pickup truck to stop.

The suspect, Brett Max Knight, 33, of Utah County, was subsequently shot and killed when he ignored repeated demands to disarm and surrender, police said.

The chase began at about 4 p.m. in Lehi, when police attempted to arrest Knight at a motel. He allegedly robbed a Chase bank branch in Draper on Friday.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims

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