A judge is getting ready to decide whether a former Salt Lake City police officer intentionally crushed someone’s leg with his car in Ogden.
If found guilty, Thomas Caygle could face up to five years in prison for aggravated assault.
The incident began with a fender bender in 2022 but turned into a second crash when Caygle and the victim decided to move their cars out of traffic.
At the time, Caygle was an officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department. He was off-duty at the time of the crash.
After the incident, Caygle was fired for violation of department policy.
At first, the victim said he thought Caygle was drunk because he was slurring his words.
The victim initially said he smelled alcohol on Caygle’s breath and that he heard Caygle put the car into gear before ramming him, but he later withdrew those statements.
Caygle testified that he had chewing tobacco in his mouth and that he was going through a panic attack.
When asked if any alcohol was found in Caygle’s system, a forensic technician testified no and that she couldn’t determine from one drug test whether that person was “absolutely impaired.”