Man found guilty of driving into South Salt Lake house in 2020, seriously injuring 10-year-old

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A man has been found guilty of taking a painkiller in 2020 and then driving his truck into a home, pinning a 10-year-old under the truck and causing serious injuries.

A jury found Charles Merrill Lavadie, 63, guilty of one count of negligently operating a vehicle resulting serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony. He was also charged with one count of class B demeanor reckless driving, and the jury found him not guilty of that charge.

On July 3, 2020, South Salt Lake Police responded to a vehicle crashed into a home near 3300 South and 300 East. On arrival, police found Lavadie’s truck “completely inside” the residence, according to court documents. The driver, Lavadie, was still in the driver’s seat of the truck.

Lavadie turned the truck back on, and the detective told him to turn it off. A witness grabbed the keys out of the truck, and the detective heard crying from underneath the vehicle. A 10-year-old child had been run over and was pinned underneath.

The fire department arrived and had to use technical heavy rescue extrication to get the child out safely. It took 20 minutes to remove the child, and the child was then life flighted to Primary Children’s Hospital in critical condition.

The child suffered a skull fracture, bleeding in the brain, a broken femur, and a large cut to the side of his face due to the crash.

When the detective spoke to Lavadie, Lavadie stated that he passed out, and that’s why he crashed his truck. He also told police that he had previously taken a painkiller. He took the painkiller in the morning and drove from St. George to South Salt Lake.

Police determined that Lavadie had taken multiple medications that can cause drowsiness and dizziness. An interaction between the painkiller and other medications lowered his blood pressure and made him pass out, resulting in the crash. Those medications carried warnings to take care while operating a vehicle.

Witnesses described the truck as traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the crash, and investigators found that the truck was traveling between 39 and 47 miles per hour during the five seconds leading up to the crash.

Sentencing for Lavadie is scheduled for November 20, 2025.