Video shows suspected DUI driver barreling into children’s center on New Year’s Eve

KEARNS, Utah (KSL) – Shocking surveillance video captured the moment a suspected drunk driver crashed a car into a children’s center in Utah.

The crash took place at the Kearns Early Childhood Head Start program building on New Year’s Eve.

After the vehicle comes to a stop, three people, a woman and two men, are seen exiting the car, seemingly unharmed.

Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler said the car barreled through a parking lot and into the cinderblock wall of the building.

“Watching that video, it is frightening to think of what could have happened,” she said. “And the speed that that person was traveling at… this could have been tragic.”

The impact of the crash goes well beyond the building itself. The early childhood center serves infants to 3-year-olds, and families experiencing poverty.

Janell Cerva, the chief impact and strategy officer for Utah Community Action, a group that runs Head Start programs in multiple Utah counties, said all of the services at the center are closed.

The families who rely on bringing their children to the location for childcare, meals and other resources will have to figure something else now.

“It’s already challenging coming out of the holidays, and obviously, this just makes it more difficult,” Cerva said. “Especially when you’re really kind of on the margin and just barely getting by. It really is a tough time.”

Cutler said police were able to track down the suspected driver the night of the crash with the help of a K-9 officer. She said 21-year-old Iris DeLeon Gutierrez was arrested for an investigation of driving under the influence.

Cutler said police are still looking for the two men.