2021 Clearfield hit-and-run fatality results in charges against 2 men
Photo supplied, AdobeStock
CLEARFIELD — Two men have been charged in the investigation stemming from the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian in Clearfield last year.
Robert Gormley, 67, of Ogden, died at a Layton hospital shortly after the June 9 crash, and the Clearfield Police Department appealed for the public’s help in finding the driver. According to charging documents, a confidential informant later told police that Leandro Duran, 34, allegedly said he had “done a hit and run and killed a guy.”
On Friday in 2nd District Court in Farmington, the Davis County Attorney’s Office charged Duran with leaving the scene of an accident involving death and obstructing justice, both third-degree felonies, and class C misdemeanor driving on a revoked or suspended driver license.
Duran lived in Brigham City at the time but now lives in Tracy, California, according to court records. Davis prosecutors asked for a warrant for Duran’s arrest by California authorities so he can be brought to Utah to face the charges.
Cody Axel Robinson, 29, of Brigham City, was charged in November with third-degree felony obstructing justice. Charging documents said Robinson was a passenger in Duran’s Cadillac when it hit Gormley.
Asked by police about the incident, Robinson said he did not know about a hit and run. He said he had agreed that Duran, a friend, could park his car in his garage so he could fix damage caused by a tree branch. He said he didn’t see the damage and did not help with the repairs, and Duran then left for California.
But police obtained cellphone history data that showed Robinson was in the approximate area of the hit and run. He pleaded guilty last month to a reduced misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to a year in jail. The sentence was suspended and he was put on probation for one year and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
The informant told police that Duran allegedly drove his Cadillac to California and sold it there. A windshield piece found in Robinson’s garage had blood on it that matched Gormley’s, charging documents said.