Authorities investigate a car crash Wednesday at 5673 S. 4015 West in Kearns. A group of Kearns Junior High students were hit in an auto-pedestrian accident. (Chris Detrick / The Salt Lake Tribune )
Salt Lake Tribune

Kearns » Thirteen-year-old Kelsey Montoya was walking home from school when she looked across the street and saw a car drive onto the sidewalk, brush against a fence and then run over her classmates.

"He already hit the first group of kids," Kelsey said, "and he was trying to get away."

The car struck six boys. When it crashed, "A lot of people were crying," Kelsey said.

All six boys are expected to survive. Three had to go to hospitals, including one boy who was on the car when it flipped, said Salt Lake County sheriff’s Lt. Don Hutson. The car landed on the boy.

Hutson said the car appeared to travel 20 mph to 30 mph, but some witnesses said they heard the car accelerate before it crashed. Hutson said there were no signs the driver, Luka Wall Kang, tried to dodge the children and marks on the pavement indicate he tried to keep the car on the sidewalk.

At about 3:10 p.m., students were leaving Kearns Junior High School and walking home. Kelsey said she was with a group of classmates, walking south on 4015 West near 5600 South. Kelsey crossed to the east side of 4015 West when she heard and saw the Camry on the opposite side of the street.

The car hit or clipped one set of boys on the sidewalk, then returned to the street, Kelsey said. But when other cars blocked the Camry, Kelsey said, it returned to the sidewalk, where it struck other boys walking home from school.

Calvin Kincaid, who lives on 4015 West, was taking out his garbage when he heard honking and yelling. When Kincaid turned around, "I saw a kid flying through the air," he said.

He ran to the first boy that fell off the car, then heard a bang and looked down the street and saw that the Camry had flipped.

The car hit a short, stone retaining wall and overturned. One boy was still on the car when it flipped, Hutson said, and the Camry landed on him. The crash occurred about 1½ blocks from where the car hit the first boys.

All the boys were in the seventh or eighth grade, Kelsey said.

Kincaid said the car began to smoke with the driver still inside hanging by his seat belt. Kincaid ran to the car and pulled the driver from it.

Alicia Olson, Kelsey’s mother, was driving north on 4015 West when she saw the southbound Camry traveling on the sidewalk. She watched as the Camry began hitting the children.

Olson parked her vehicle and ran to the aid of the Camry driver; she and Kincaid helped strap the driver to a backboard while paramedics worked on him.

"He was real lethargic," Olson said. "They kept asking him if he knew his name and he didn’t say anything."

Olson and some other witnesses reported there was a passenger in the car whose head was out the window yelling at children. But Hutson said police found no signs of a second person and believe the witnesses confused some of the boys stuck on or flying off the car for a passenger.

About the driver
Luka Wall Kang gave no explanation for what happened, Salt Lake County sheriff’s Lt. Don Hutson said Wednesday evening.

Kang, 50, appears to have been a recent arrival to the United States. The Toyota Camry with Arizona license plates is registered to Kang, but police could find no record of a driver license anywhere, Hutson added.

Kang was not badly harmed but was expected to remain in a hospital overnight Wednesday, Hutson said. There was no decision Wednesday about what, if any, criminal charges would be filed.


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I live about 75 miles from where this happened (I saw the story on the news). During the broadcast, the reported said something along the lines of "Kang hasn't said why he did what he did, however he did mention that he was having emotional problems". What a bunch of hullaballOo!!! I hope that the parents whose children were hit by that stupid son of a bitch, is fined and harshly prosecuted.

There was no decision Wednesday about what, if any, criminal charges would be filed.

Why the hell not?

That's what I am wondering. Utah is a fucked up place at times. The legal system here SUCKS BIG FAT SMELLY TOES!!! I mean for hell sake, I was just arrested on a warrent for missing a court date that I didnt kno existed. What was my crime? "Failure to appear for: Dogs running at large". WTF??!?! Check out my diary (latest entry) for more details. Anyway, I am going to write a letter to my state about what that Kang psycho did. He needs to be put away or at least prosecuted appopriately for his offence. He should pay for the damage that he has done to those poor kids. Hospital bills are expensive, ya dig? Considering the fact that there isn't really such a thing as "free healthcare" in the USA, I would sue the hell out of that guy!!!

http://www.the-two-malcontents.com/2009/05/07/immigrant-with-no-drivers-license-runs-over-6-kids/