ST. GEORGE —Bruce George Pikyavit, 39, of Ivins, was arrested and booked into jail in Washington County shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday and now faces two third-degree felony counts of negligently operating a motor vehicle resulting in serious bodily injury.
St. George Communications Center received an emergency call reporting a single-vehicle crash on Old Highway 91, between mile marker 13 and 14, just outside Ivins, according to a report by St. George News on Sunday.
Upon arrival, emergency personnel encountered a GMC truck that had left the roadway, rolled approximately 50 feet down an embankment where it overturned and came to rest with the driver’s side of the vehicle touching the ground.
The truck was carrying three occupants — one was ejected from the vehicle, a second required extrication and the third sustained minor injuries. The passenger ejected was found in critical condition with multiple injuries and transported to St. George Regional Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
The passenger trapped inside the wreckage was extricated through the roof of the truck and carried up the 50-foot embankment on a backboard to an awaiting Life Flight helicopter and flown to the hospital.
Pikyavit, who was driving, was found outside the vehicle and was questioned by officers before being transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries, according to charging documents filed with the courts following the arrest.
At the scene, the driver reportedly told officers they were returning home from a trip to Mesquite when the crash took place, adding he had fallen asleep at the wheel. While speaking to the suspect, officers detected the smell of alcohol and when they inquired further, Pikyavit reported told them “that he did have a couple of alcoholic beverages about an hour ago.”
The driver consented to a field sobriety test but reportedly declined to submit to a breathalyzer test. Due to his injuries, the field sobriety test could not be conducted and Pikyavit was transported to the hospital where he would later consent to a blood draw, according to the report.
The suspect was released from the hospital a few hours later and was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility. The public safety assessment report filed during the arrest was flagged indicating an elevated risk of committing a violent offense and the suspect remains in custody on $5,000 bail.
The Santa Clara-Ivins Department of Public Safety, the Santa Clara-Ivins Fire and Rescue Division and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
St. George News reporter Jessi Bang contributed to this report.
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