WASHINGTON CITY, Utah – A woman accused of fatally hitting two bicyclists with her vehicle and then fleeing the scene blamed irritable bowel syndrome for causing the double fatality, Utah police said.
The California cycling brothers died after the crash at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Washington City police said in a news release. The men were competing in a local bike race. Police have not yet disclosed their names.
The cyclists were hit by a Hyundai Genesis while riding westbound in the bicycle lane on Telegraph Street, the release said. The men were transported to St. George Regional Hospital but did not survive their injuries, Sacramento Bee reported.
In an affidavit, police said the suspect, identified at Julie Ann Budge, 47, was driving a Hyundai Genesis, which struck the riders. The woman told police she was on medication for a number of illnesses, including irritable bowel syndrome. As a result, she began to “uncontrollably defecate on herself” while driving, KUTV reported.
The affidavit said she swerved into the bike lane, striking both cyclists, but continued driving because she “could not get her vehicle to stop,” the Gephardt Daily reported.
“A witness at the scene of the accident stated that it appeared that Julie did not have the intention of stopping after hitting the two cyclists,” the arresting officer wrote. “The witness stated he followed Julie’s vehicle until she pulled over and stopped several hundred yards away from the accident.”
The woman also told officers she had been admitted to a hospital the previous day and was administered fentanyl through an IV drip, KUTV reported.
Police said Budge failed all field sobriety tests. She was subsequently arrested and booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide, DUI, leaving the scene of a deadly accident, among other charges, the Gephardt Daily reported.
She has a prior DUI conviction from 2015.
