UHP trooper's vehicle rammed from behind

SOUTH SALT LAKE — A Utah Highway Patrol trooper was injured Friday after his patrol car was rammed from behind by a suspected drunken driver.

The trooper was taken to Intermountain Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries and later released, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller.

The accident happened on the same day UHP troopers were scheduled to start a DUI blitz.

Trooper Cody McCoy had just finished a routine traffic stop on southbound Interstate 15 between 4000 South and 4500 South at a little before 1 a.m., Keller said. The car that he had pulled over had departed, and McCoy was sitting in his patrol car, on the right shoulder, finishing some paperwork.

That's when another vehicle plowed into the back of McCoy's vehicle without warning, said UHP trooper Cameron Roden.

"The impact was pretty hard," Roden said.

The vehicle that hit the patrol car was estimated to be moving close to freeway speed. McCoy suffered some cuts and bruises but no broken bones. He was released from the hospital Friday and was resting at home, Roden said.

South Salt Lake police were called to conduct the investigation.

The driver of the car that hit the patrol car, Patrick Delvar, 31, refused to take DUI field sobriety tests, Keller said. He did submit to a blood draw, however. Investigators detected a strong odor of alcohol on Delvar's breath and found an open container in the vehicle, as well as marijuana, according to Keller.

He was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. Delvar was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of DUI, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia after being released from the hospital.

According to state court records, Delvar had requested an official name change from the state in 2006. Prior to that, when he was Patrick Delvar Berendson, his short criminal record included a battery charge and a disorderly conduct charge that was later dismissed.

Many law enforcers say so-called routine traffic stops on the freeway are among the most dangerous duties they perform.

"Being on the side of the freeway, even on the shoulder … it's a dangerous place to be," Roden said.

An extra 188 troopers were expected to be on Utah's freeways looking for impaired drivers during the DUI blitz.

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