This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A man was driving drunk when he fled Clearfield police Tuesday night and struck and killed a pedestrian, investigators say.
The driver, Jose Antonio Cortez-Orozco, had gone to the Freeport Center about 10 p.m. to deliver flowers to his estranged wife, despite a protective order forbidding contact with her, according to jail documents. Officers spotted Orozco driving in the area and tried to pull him over, but Orozco fled, investigators wrote. Police followed his truck at speeds up to 60 mph and then called off the chase.
Less than 10 minutes later, they learned a truck matching Orozco's truck had hit 27-year-old Kelly Allred at 700 South (Highway 193) and State Street (Highway 26) and left the scene, said Assistant Clearfield Police Chief Mike Stenquist.
Officers went to Orozco's North Salt Lake home, and Orozco arrived about a half hour later. He smelled of alcohol and failed sobriety tests, police wrote; his breath indicated blood alcohol level of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08. Orozco told police he "thought he may have hit something" at 700 South.
Allred died about 2:30 a.m. at a hospital.
After questioning, Orozco was booked into the Davis County jail, where he was being held without bail Wednesday on suspicion of automobile homicide, leaving the scene of an injury accident and violation of a protective order.
Second District Court records show Orozco had earlier pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor of violating the protective order in connection with a Dec. 7, 2013, incident involving his estranged wife. Just days before that, Orozco had pleaded guilty to class B misdemeanor counts of assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
On Jan. 7, he was given a 305-day suspended jail sentence and ordered to serve 120 days home confinement on condition he wear an ankle monitor and complete two years' probation.
The specifics of his most recent alleged protective order violation were not released.
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