A 44-year-old female motorist opened a porn site on her phone just minutes before causing a deadly freeway crash in Utah, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing authorities.
Christine Chao of Rosemead in Los Angeles County was driving a blue Toyota Matrix on Interstate 15 south of Salt Lake City around 2 p.m. June 12 when she opened a website “commonly used to view pornographic videos,” police discovered after searching her phone, the paper said, citing the charging document filed in Juab County (Utah) Justice Court.
'We will miss this dear, sweet, kind, friendly man. Everyone was a friend to him.'
Chao, 44, was charged Tuesday with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony, KSL-TV reported.
Traffic was slowed down because of construction, and Chao hit a Mazda 3, which then hit a Buick Enclave in front of it, the Times said, citing prosecutors allegations.
A passenger in the car Chao hit was in critical condition when officers arrived and later died, the paper said, citing court records.
Police found no brake marks that would have indicated Chao tried to stop before crashing, and she admitted to officers that she caused the accident, the Times added, citing the records.
Police got a warrant to search her phone and found that she had opened a pornographic website less than two minutes before the crash, the paper said.
"An examination of the phone pursuant to the warrant showed that [Chao] had accessed the website xvideos.com less than two minutes before the crash occurred," KSL reported, citing charging documents. "This website is commonly used to view pornographic videos."
Chao was not arrested at the scene, Utah Highway Patrol spokesperson Zachary Randall said in an email, the Times noted.
Her next court date is scheduled for Nov. 17, prosecutors told the paper.
The victim was Scott LaVar Lichfield, 66, the Times said, citing Randall. Litchfield lived in Fillmore, Utah, with his wife and “loved and adored” playing Santa Claus, the paper added, citing his obituary.
“We will miss this dear, sweet, kind, friendly man,” the obituary read. “Everyone was a friend to him.”
What's more, Litchfield's obituary said he and his wife celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary the day before he died; he is survived by five children.
"The very best thing he loved was just being with his children and grandchildren. He would see a grandchild and say to them, 'Come give me a hug.' He loved them so very much. He read to them, watched movies with them, played chess, and built legos. They all loved their Papa/Pop Pop," the obituary stated.
"He loved and adored playing Santa Claus. He even looked like him. He had so many little kids over the years come up to him wherever we were at and smile shyly or ask him if he was Santa. One time a little boy came up to him at a hotel and said to him, 'Santa, are you on vacation?' Oh, he loved that," his obituary added. "He even had a red winter jacket to keep the magic alive all winter."
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