SANDY, Utah — The 55-year-old woman who is facing charges in connection with the deadly crash that killed 40-year-old Joshua Perry was reportedly driving with a blood alcohol content over six times Utah's legal limit.
Zoe Carisa Blankenstein was indicted Thursday and faces charges of automobile homicide, interfering with a peace officer, open container of alcohol in a vehicle, and a right of way infraction.
On January 15 at 6:57 p.m., Sandy police were dispatched to the scene of the accident at 1000 East and 11000 South in Salt Lake County. When they arrived they were informed that a pedestrian, Perry, was walking in the crosswalk when a vehicle ran a stop sign and struck him.
Police say the impact of the collision threw Perry into a second vehicle that had stopped to make a turn onto 1000 East.
Perry was taken to the hospital but officials say he was later pronounced deceased.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Perry's family with funeral costs.
A juvenile witness told officers that they observed a Ford "zooming" down the road prior to hitting Perry, The witness also added that Perry had just waved another vehicle through the crosswalk and had started walking before being struck.
Police on the scene located a Ford Escape and spoke to the driver, Blankenstein, who was sitting in the vehicle with damage to the front bumper, hood, and side mirror.
According to Blankenstein, she had been out celebrating her birthday and was driving home when the collision happened. Blankenstein told police that she had been turning left on a green arrow when Perry "came out of nowhere."
However, Sandy police confirmed that the intersection where the crash happened didn't have traffic control signals and was instead a four way stop.
Detectives claim that Blankenstein had the odor of alcohol on her breath and had difficulty maintaining her balance out of the vehicle.
Investigators attempted to have her consent to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, but Blankenstein allegedly refused. When officers informed her that she would be under arrested, they say she resisted and at one point urinated on herself and an officer's shoes.
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Once at the Sandy Police Department, officers asked Blankenstein to consent to a blood test, which she refused. Following officers reading the refusal admonition to her, she consented.
Court documents state that at the time of the blood draw, Blankenstein was found to have a blood alcohol content of .309. The legal limit in the state of Utah is .05.
A search warrant was obtained for the vehicle involved in the crash and police say inside they found a black bag hanging from the shifter. Inside the bag, was a blue tumbler-style cub that police say had an amber colored liquid that smelled like beer.
