Lives cut short — Car flees Ogden police, kills 2 young men in another vehicle

OGDEN — They had bright futures, tragically cut short.

Derek Jasper was anxiously awaiting his LDS mission call — the letter was supposed to arrive in the mail next week. His roommate, Blake Strebel, was a Weber State University student also wanting to go on a mission someday, but he first had his eyes on his associate degree so he could pursue his lifelong dream of a career in law enforcement when he returned.

The young men were killed late Wednesday when a car fleeing from Ogden police ran a red light and slammed into their car at the intersection of 28th Street and Washington Boulevard. They were returning to their 25th Street apartment after playing basketball.

Jasper's mother, Jennifer, had spoken with her 18-year-old son just minutes before he died.

"I called him to see how he was doing," she said as she sat on the couch of her Ogden home, surrounded by family members.

At 19-year-old Blake Strebel's family home in South Jordan, they were also in shock.

"Our eyes have been red with crying. We're not over that. I don't think we'll be over that for quite some time because Blake was a very fine young man. We're very sorry to see him leave this Earth," said Strebel's grandfather, John Strebel.

The two suspected in their deaths were both in the hospital for most of the day Thursday, but police officers arrested them once they were released from the hospital. Ogden police said Mark Mora, 17, and Andrew Gomez, 21, are suspected of committing a home burglary Tuesday on the city's east bench. Neighbors saw the attempted break-in and confronted the two, who fled the scene in a Cadillac.

The next night, a police officer on patrol in downtown Ogden spotted the Cadillac and attempted to pull it over, but the car took off.

"Traffic was very light and the conditions were in keeping with the Ogden Police Department's pursuit policy," assistant police chief Randy Watt said Thursday. "The vehicle stayed in the residential area and made numerous changes in direction at the same relative speeds."

At 28th Street and Jefferson Avenue, police said, the Cadillac accelerated. When it reached Washington Boulevard, police said the Cadillac ran a red light, striking a Mitsubishi Lancer driven by Blake Strebel. Both were killed instantly.

Inside the Cadillac, Mora was incapacitated. Police said Gomez ran from the crash site across a parking lot before being captured.