A woman drove her car into two brothers riding their bicycles and fled the scene, later blaming her irritable bowel syndrome for the fatal accident.
Julie Ann Budge, 47, told police that medications she took to treat her condition caused her to ‘defecate on herself without warning’, according to arresting documents obtained by KUTV. She claimed that was the reason she lost control of her car near Washington City in Utah on Saturday and hit the cyclists.
Budge’s Hyundai veered into the bike lane at noon and hit the two cyclists who were competing in the the Spring Tour of St George. She said she ‘began to uncontrollably defecate on herself while driving, so she swerved’ the documents state.
Budge apparently told cops that she knew that she struck the two cyclists but could not stop her vehicle.
Meanwhile, a witness said that it ‘appeared that Julie did not have the intention of stopping after hitting the two cyclists’, an arresting officer wrote.
‘The witness stated he followed Julie’s vehicle until she pulled over and stopped several hundred yards away from the accident,’ the statement reads.
Both cyclists were unresponsive when first aid was administered at the scene. They were transported to St George Regional Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
The brothers’ identities have not yet been released.
Police later found Budge and administered field sobriety tests, which she failed, according to arresting documents. She had a prior conviction for driving under the influence in 2015.
Budge claimed that she received Fentanyl using an IV drip in the hospital the day before the crash.
She was arrested on suspicion of two counts of automobile homicide owed to criminal negligence, two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury due to negligent operation and two counts of failure to stay at a fatal accident scene. Budged is also charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor, and an infraction for improper lane driving.
Washington City is about 300 miles south of Salt Lake City.
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