Driver charged months after truck blazed path of destruction through Tooele

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Roughly seven months after a gravel truck careened through Main Street in Tooele — smashing into dozens of cars, sparking a fire at an auto dealership, and injuring 11 people — the driver is now facing charges.

Moab James Stapley, 27, was charged Friday in Tooele Valley Justice Court with one Class B misdemeanor count of reckless driving and eight other infractions, including running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road, and driving with bad breaks, court documents show.

The charges stem from the Nov. 3 crash, wherein Stapley’s fully-loaded gravel truck rolled out of control through several intersections and smashed into more than 30 vehicles. The path of destruction ended with a fire at the Tooele Motor Company dealership. No one was killed, but one person was airlifted to a hospital.

WATCH: Gravel truck careens through Tooele

Stapley, of Tooele, was not injured. In the immediate aftermath of the fiery crash, he told police that he believed his brakes failed as he was heading north on Main Street. He said he honked his horn and tried to snake through traffic as the truck barreled through intersection after intersection.

An accident report filed in January by Tooele police found that 80% of Stapley’s trailer braking system was not functioning correctly, noting that one of the braking devices was rusted through and one component wasn’t even connected. Police recommended to city prosecutors that Stapley and the owner of the trucking company be charged with reckless endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor.

Ultimately, the Tooele City Attorney’s Office opted to charge Stapley with reckless driving, a Class B misdemeanor, which carries penalties of up to 6 months in jail and fines up to $1,000. The infractions he faces are punishable by up to $750 in fines, compensatory service, forfeiture, disqualification, or a combination of those punishments.

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