West Jordan officer arrested for alleged road rage incident, DUI, documents say

MAGNA, Utah (ABC4) — A West Jordan Police officer was arrested after an alleged reckless crash that ended with his vehicle in a canal, according to documents. A spokesperson with the City of West Jordan confirmed he is an officer.

Zachary Robert Allen, 34, is facing charges of reckless driving with a road rage enhancement and driving under the influence.

According to documents, on June 23, a Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) trooper was dispatched to the area of 8200 West SR-201 on reports that a vehicle had driven off the roadway and into the canal on the north side of the road.

The fire department had already responded to the scene and removed the driver, Allen, from the white pickup truck that had crashed into the canal. Another driver was involved in the crash, and he had been driving a Ford Bronco.

The driver of the Ford Bronco told police that he had been driving eastbound on SR-201 when he observed a white pickup truck driving “recklessly” and “at a high rate of speed.” The truck was allegedly cutting other drivers off and following too closely.

Allen, driving the white truck, allegedly pulled up right behind the Ford Bronco, but was unable to pass due to traffic in the right lane. Instead of waiting, the driver of the Ford Bronco said that the truck tried to pass on the left side while a short merge lane was present. The merge lane ran out, and the truck crashed into the dirt shoulder.

After hitting the shoulder, the Ford Bronco driver told police that the white pickup truck cut in front of him and struck the front bumper of his vehicle. The crash caused the truck to “go sideways out of control,” where it crossed the highway and drove through a break in the guardrail on the right side of the road.

Two separate witnesses who were traveling in the area at the same time corroborated what happened: that the truck had tried to pass the Ford and ended up hitting the vehicle and crashing through the guardrail and into the canal. One of the witnesses also provided dashcam footage, where police could see the crash.

The UHP trooper approached Allen and spoke with him. Allen allegedly told the officer that he was coming home from “out west.” When recounting what led up to the crash, Allen said that he tried to pass the Ford Bronco and it “pushed him off the roadway,” documents say.

According to the trooper, Allen had several indicators of impairment and had a smell of alcohol coming from his breath. The trooper asked Allen if he was sober, and Allen stated that he was. Allen allegedly refused to do the field sobriety tests twice when asked by the trooper.

A friend of Allen arrived at the scene of the crash and told officers that Allen was drinking earlier in the day, according to documents. After this, the trooper arrested Allen, and he was taken to get a blood and breath test for a DUI. A breath test showed that his blood alcohol content was at 0.041%.

“The City is aware of the arrest and booking of one of its employees for a DUI offense. We take this matter seriously and are conducting an internal review,” Marie Magers, communications manager of the City of West Jordan, shared in a statement to ABC4. “The City holds its employees to the highest standards of conduct and will take appropriate action based on the results of the investigation.”

No further comment or information was available due to it being a “personnel matter.”