On September 19th, at about 5:45 pm, The Snowflake-Taylor Police Department responded to a collision at 230 N 3rd Street West in Snowflake. When officers arrived, they discovered two vehicles were involved in the collision as well as a female pedestrian identified as Yesenia Robles.
Officers quickly discovered that the driver involved 18-year-old Logan Peterson of Snowflake, turned South onto 3rd West from Highway 277. Shortly after making the turn, Logan’s vehicle struck the victim who was attempting to remove items from the back seat of a parked car on the west side of the roadway.
After the impact, Yesenia became trapped under one of the vehicles. Officers and EMT’s from Taylor-Snowflake Fire and EMS were able to extricate Yesenia from under the vehicle at which point she was rushed to the Summit Regional Medical Center. Officers received information shortly after that Yesenia had succumbed to her injuries. No other serious injuries were reported by the additional 4 passengers inside the vehicle that was struck.
On September 20, Logan Peterson was formally charged with Manslaughter, Aggravated Assault, and Reckless Driving. It was discovered during the investigation that Logan had become distracted while driving and was unaware that he was driving off the roadway before striking the parked car. Logan was taken before a Judge where he was released to his family pending court proceedings. Once the investigation is completed, the case will be referred to the Navajo County Prosecutor’s office for review.
Snowflake Taylor Police Department, Chief Robert Martin said, “We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the Robles family. This is terrible tragedy for our community, and we are heartbroken by this event. Its a stark reminder of the importance and responsibility we all have as drivers on our roads to ensure we are attentive and focused on the operation of our vehicles over all other distractions Nothing is more important than arriving at your destination safely. Please do not let yourself become distracted from your responsibility of safely operating your vehicle.”