OGDEN -- Lisa Archuleta stood Sunday afternoon near a crushed decorative wall in front of the house at 1144 12th St., trying to make sense out of a fiery car crash that hours earlier had killed her nephew.
Nineteen-year-old Joseph Michael Barela, of Ogden, died at the scene, police say.
"It's crazy," Archuleta said, glancing half a block up the street at the spot where the 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier that Barela was driving left the road and plowed through several yards before hitting the wall.
Barela, who was accompanied in the car by passenger Mikel James Rhoades, 20, also of the Ogden area, was driving at least 60 mph in a 45 mph zone around 4 a.m. in the 1100 block of 12th Street, said Ogden Police Sgt. Chris McAllister.
The car, which was driving east, crossed the westbound lane and left the north side of the road.
It then traveled 235 feet through two yards, three driveways and numerous trees and shrubs before hitting the wall in the driveway of the home where the crash ended, McAllister said.
Rhoades crawled out of the car and went to a neighbor to get help.
A Standard-Examiner reporter who went to the house at 1144 12th St. on Sunday afternoon noticed what appeared to be blood, possibly from Rhoades, on the front door. No one appeared to be home at the residence.
When the Cavalier began burning, Rhoades ran back to the car and pulled Barela out, though he died at the scene, police say.
Rhoades was transported to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Alcohol and excessive speed are suspected to have contributed to the crash, police say.
The accident remains under investigation, but no charges are expected to be filed, McAllister said.
Spectacular crashes like the one that killed Barela aren't a regular occurrence in Ogden, McAllister said.
"We see things like this sometimes, but thank God it doesn't happen every day. When we see something of this nature, alcohol is usually a contributing factor."
Meanwhile, Archuleta, who Sunday afternoon tried to retrace the path the Cavalier took before meeting its fateful end, said she has fond memories of Barela.
"He was outgoing."
Updated 10:34 p.m.
OGDEN -- A driver was killed and a passenger sustained minor injuries in a single-vehicle accident early Sunday on 12th Street.
Joseph Michael Barela, 19, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier and 20-year-old Mikel James Rhoades was a passenger when the crash occurred around 4 a.m., according to an Ogden Police Department report.
Both men are from the Ogden area.
The Cavalier was traveling east in the 1100 block of 12th Street. The car crossed the westbound lane, left the north side of the road, traveled a considerable distance through a thicket of trees and came to rest in the driveway of a residence at 1144 12th St.
Barela died at the scene.
Alcohol and excessive speed are suspected to have contributed to the crash, according to the police report.
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