EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — Details remain murky nearly a week after an on-duty Utah Highway Patrol trooper hit and killed a 34-year-old pedestrian in Eagle Mountain.
Very little has been released about what happened Wednesday night and what may have caused the wreck at the rural, yet bustling, intersection of Lake Mountain Road and Pole Canyon Boulevard.
While the trooper was on-duty at the time of the accident, which occurred at approximately 9:30 p.m., they were not responding to an emergency.
FOX 13 News has been in touch with friends and family of the victim, identified as Jack Wilcoxon, and a GoFundMe page created after the incident calls him a loving father, husband and veteran.
Neighbors living in the new development are few and far between. Residents who spoke with FOX 13 News would only do so off-camera, but shared how unusual it is to hear sirens, as they’re so removed from the rest of the town.
Besides the information released the morning after the crash, very little has come out since. FOX 13 News reached out to UHP on several occasions, only to be denied additional details about what happened that night.
However, after reaching out again on Tuesday, the agency confirmed that the trooper has been on administrative leave since the incident, which is standard protocol for police officers and troopers during similar investigations.
"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and community affected by this incident," the Utah Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
Visiting the area, we found no stop signs along Pole Canyon Boulevard at the intersection, and the nearest speed limit sign reads 45 miles per hour.
Utah County’s Officer-Involved Critical Incident Team is currently handling the investigation and has remained tight-lipped.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office said limitations on what and how information is distributed to the public are now being steered by new guidance that arose from the shooting of Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus. The sheriff's office claims they don’t want to do anything that could taint a jury pool or otherwise harm the outcome of a case.
Sgt. Raymond Ormond with the sheriff's office says the next step in the investigation will be to hand the case to the Utah County Attorney’s Office, but there is no set timeline on when that may happen, and it could be months.
