A 34-year-old man was killed, and his passenger seriously hurt, after the truck he was driving struck a tree and flipped over just after 5pm yesterday, north of Boulder Creek, authorities said.
The driver, Steven Taggart, 34, was headed towards town on Highway 9, south of Spring Creek Road, when the Toyota Tundra 2003 left the road for unknown reasons, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Taggert, a Boulder Creek resident, was transported by ambulance to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel.
Steven Foster, the 31-year-old passenger—also of Boulder Creek—was taken to the same hospital, where he was treated for major injuries.
Alcohol is a suspected factor in the crash.
*Due to an error in a CHP press release, an earlier version of this story misspelled Steven Taggart’s last name at “Taggert.”
What evidence is there that Steve Taggart was driving as it was not his truck it was Steven Fosters truck and both occupants were ejected? Who made those statements?
passengers are 2.3 times more likely to die when ejected than drivers. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/811209
Hi Mark, I just double-checked the press release and the box for driver and not passenger is checked next to Steve Taggert’s name. So that means it’s CHP making that assessment. I don’t have any additional information about how that was determined at this time. Sorry.
Thanks I am waiting for a call back from investigating officer now its been about 6 hours since I called. I fail to see how they could have conducted a proper investigation to make that determination so quickly and I have other information from a witness that seems to counter that conclusion.
2 witnesses now that Foster was driving and CHP had no evidence that Taggart was the driver
CHP let the family know that the investigation was still open and that they have not determined who the driver is. It would be nice if they updated the press release to show that
Multiple witnesses have come forward stating they saw Foster driving not Taggart. No witnesses have come forward stating that Taggart was the driver. The distraught widow stated that Foster was the driver until CHP interrogated her instead of Foster(the driver) and got her to change her testimony while she was in shock. Foster has given a statement that is an impossibility with the timeline involved. These false reports that Taggart is the driver are very hurtful in a time when the family is grieving.
Wow Mark, way to do the homework the press and police should be doing. Have you considered applying to work as a journalist? 😆
Can I ask how the witnesses witnessed Foster at the wheel? And where you got all of the case info?
Are Taggart’s family not advocating for criminal investigation to clear him?
Seems likely both parties were drunk and compromised before the crash and resulting head trauma, so not sure why Foster’s recollection of what happened should carry any water.
I hope for Foster’s sake that he is cleared, but this is grim news.
I thought foster’s story was that Taggart wasn’t drinking and that is why they switched drivers conveniently after all witnesses saw Foster driving
Foster already confessed to driving recklessly while drunk the only part that is in question is whether he switched spots with Taggart right before the accident. I don’t understand why he hasn’t already been charged. Let a jury decide if they aren’t skeptical of his story about switching spots with the dead man right after several people witnessed him driving recklessly and he already confessed to driving drunk
There is enough evidence to bring charges. Let a jury decide if his story about switching drivers right before a fatal accident with a man no longer here to defend himself creates reasonable doubt.
The way this investigation was handled so unprofressionally has already put Taggart’s widow at a severe financial disadvantage by having insurance benefits delayed and potentially denied because the police report states Taggart is the driver based on flimsy hearsay evidence most likely not admissible in court when there are eye witnesses that saw Foster driving recklessly right before the fatal accident. This needs to go to court where expert witnesses who know what they are doing can examine the ADMISSABLE evidence and a jury can decide if there is reasonable doubt Foster was driving. Witnesses familiar with hemophilia and the nuances of this case. By not doing this they are denying Taggart any chance at justice and creating an even further injustice on his Widow.
Taggarts family lost their breadwinner and they are being denied insurance benefits because of a faulty police report based on hearsay when there is admissable evidence that Foster was the driver.
You updated the name but failed to mention the clean tox report from the ME that I sent to you and the fact that the accident is still investigating who was driving. You could have updated that the tox report on Steven Taggart came back clean at the VERY least. I sent that to you a couple of months ago to get this corrected.