OGDEN, Utah — It had been almost four months since the Utah CEO and his daughter were killed in an accident in Ogden Canyon. At that time, the tow truck driver was being investigated for murder.
Richard Hendrickson and his daughter Sally were killed in an accident in Ogden Canyon on July 6, 2024. A statement from Lifetime Products, a business based in Utah, said that Hendrickson was a victim and the CEO of the company. After the crash, his wife and other children were taken to the hospital.
A request to arrest and detain Michael John Love, 51, before his hearing was made in October 2024. Love is the owner and manager of Love’s Towing. Documents show that Love was driving a tow truck on July 6 with a digger on the back that wasn’t properly attached.
An arrest order for Love was written by a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper. It said, “The dozer was secured with one small chain on the back and the tow-hook winch on the front.” “The dozer’s weight could not have been held in place with this method of blocking it.”
Records showed that the bulldozer weighed around 32,000 pounds, which was 4,300 pounds more than the tow truck Love was driving could hold.
Documents show that Love was going up the slope going east at a speed of about 30 miles per hour. Hendrickson and his family were going the other way, but the bulldozer slid off the tow truck as they got close to a turn in the canyon.
Authorities said that the bulldozer killed Hendrickson and his daughter and badly hurt another passenger.
Authorities arrived at the scene and saw Love near a truck storage area. He told a sheriff’s officer that he was moving chains. Records showed that the chains “were not present before the accident.”
Love is said to have lied to police about securing the bulldozer after being told of his Miranda rights and talking to them after the event. He used a diagram to say that the bulldozer was held with six restraints, but records show that he knew that was not true.
According to the papers, security footage from a gas station close to the crash site showed that Love lied about how safe the bulldozer was. The video also showed Love “walking around without having to step over any non-existent chains” on the back of the tow truck.
Love said that one of the victims’ cars hit his, which set off the bulldozer. According to witnesses, neither the tow truck nor Hendrickson’s car moved out of their lanes before the crash.
“The fact that Michael Love’s first actions after the crash were to try to add more chains to the scene to show that the bulldozer was properly secured shows that he knew it wasn’t properly secured,” the papers said.
Documents show that Love was going to be charged with two counts of manslaughter, which are both second-degree felonies; one count of aggravated assault, which is also a second-degree felony; one count of obstruction of justice, which is another third-degree felony; and one count of obstruction of justice, which is a class A misdemeanor.
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