SUV driver fondling female before crash killed 8, survivors say

The Associated Press

Published: 04.17.2007

The driver of a sport utility vehicle crammed with suspected illegal immigrants was fondling a female when he lost control and crashed, killing eight men, authorities said, based on accounts from survivors.

It contradicts the driver's claim that he was trying to avoid an animal when the Chevy Suburban rolled a few hours before dawn Monday in southeastern Utah.

"The passengers say no, he wasn't swerving to miss a horse, that he was fondling a female passenger in the front seat of the vehicle," Sgt. Rick Eldredge of the Utah Highway Patrol told The Salt Lake Tribune in a story posted on its Web site Tuesday.

The vehicle rolled several times on U.S. 191 in the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Six people died at the scene. Two more later died, and six others were injured, one critically.