Charge: Teen driver’s ‘drifting’ on gravel Scott County road flung passenger to his death

A teenager has been charged with crashing and killing one of his three 16-year-old passengers while doing thrill-seeking “drifts” in a SUV, its windows and doors stripped off, on a Scott County gravel road at dusk on a late spring evening.

Juan E. Perez, 18, of Jordan, was charged in a juvenile petition in District Court last week with criminal vehicular homicide in connection with Benjamin Camacho, 16, suffering numerous fatal injuries on May 25 in the 18000 block of Valley View Drive in Sand Creek Township.

Perez, who was 17 at the time of the crash, is scheduled to be booked into custody Feb. 1 and appear in court that day for a hearing addressing the prosecution’s effort to have him tried in adult court. A message was left Tuesday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

Camacho attended Jordan High School, where Principal Jeff Vizenor said in a note to district families shortly after the the junior died that “Ben was a student that brought energy and a smile through the hallways. He was growing into a great young man and will be missed.”

According to the petition, based in part on law enforcement interviews with the driver and his passengers:

Emergency responders arrived about 8:40 p.m. to find a Jeep Wrangler, with its doors and windows taken off, on its side in a ditch. Close by was Camacho suffering from significant head injuries. Medical personnel declared him dead at the scene. Perez and his other two passengers, both 16, survived their injuries.

Perez said he lost control of the SUV. He also said he didn’t have a license to drive.

The State Department of Public Safety said Tuesday that Perez had an instruction permit at the time of the crash, which allowed him to drive but only when an adult with a driver’s license is in the front passenger seat.

One passenger added that the four of them had been drifting — oversteering and sending the vehicle sideways — in the area for about 50 minutes.

At one point, the passenger said he felt what Perez was doing was “kind of sketch” and told Perez to “down it a bit.” However, Perez ignored his friend’s fear that the stunt was getting out of control.

While heading south on a gravel stretch of Valley View Drive, Perez crossed railroad tracks, drifted yet again, hit the anchor cable to a utility pole and landed in a ditch.

The friend said Perez crashed because he overcorrected his drift and the rear of the Jeep swung out. He recalled looking over as the SUV swerved and seeing an unbelted Camacho sliding around.

A State Patrol investigation determined that Perez was traveling between 32 and 35 miles per hour at the time. The posted limit is 30.

The investigation also found that the emergency brake on the damaged SUV was engaged. “It is common to use the emergency brake when actively drifting a vehicle,” the petition read.

One day after the crash, Scott County Sheriff Luke Hennen said, “I urge parents to have open and honest conversations with their teens about the importance of driving safely and always wearing seat belts.”