Driver charged with improperly secured bulldozer that killed two people in Ogden

OGDEN — An Ogden man has been charged with manslaughter, accused of improperly attaching a bulldozer to his tow truck, causing it to slide and killing two people.

Michael John Love, 51, was arrested Oct. 28 in connection with a fatal canyon crash in July. He was charged Oct. 23 with two counts of manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault causing bodily harm, second-degree felonies; obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a Class A misdemeanor.

According to court documents, Love is a tow truck operator who owns Love’s Towing.

A police affidavit said Love was driving a truck and towing a 32,000-pound bulldozer, which was about 4,300 pounds over the tow truck’s maximum weight limit. Court documents say the bulldozer was secured with a small chain at the rear and a “tow hook winch” at the front.

“This method of securing the bulldozer was completely inadequate to keep the weight of the bulldozer in place. The approximate maximum weight that these contact points would have secured would have been approximately 5,000 pounds at best,” the court documents state.

The bulldozer also had metal tracks and sat on a metal bed of the truck, which would reduce the friction that would have held the heavy load in place, police said.

As Love drove up Ogden Canyon on July 6, the bulldozer slid to the left as Love negotiated a curve and became detached from its chain and tow rope, court documents said. The bulldozer then landed on an oncoming SUV, killing two people and injuring three others.

While medical personnel attended to the crash victims, Love was seen near the truck’s storage area and told a Weber County officer that he was moving chains, court documents said. The deputy told Love to leave everything where it was because it was part of a crime scene and under investigation, the documents say.

In an interview, Love claimed his vehicle never left the lane and was struck near the rear, causing the bulldozer to dislodge and fall on the vehicle, police said. By reconstructing the accident, investigators determined that neither car left its lane, and witnesses to the accident independently gave statements that neither car left its lane or struck each other.

Investigators also determined there was no impact that would have caused the bulldozer to fall off the bed of the truck.

Love told police that the bulldozer was secured with two chains in the back, two in the front, “one over the bucket” and an additional hook on the tow chain, the police affidavit said.

Court documents say he drew a diagram showing where the tracks were located and said the height of the vehicle’s bed combined with the weight of the bulldozer made it unstable. Love also said he checked the safety of the load the night before and assumed the bulldozer weighed only 22,000 pounds and that the tow truck was of poor quality.

“This information was false and Michael Love knew this information was false,” court documents state.

Surveillance footage from a gas station minutes before the accident shows Love filling up his vehicle and the bulldozer with gasoline. In the footage, the bulldozer is “clearly visible” and only secured with a “winch rope” hook at the front and a single chain at the back and center.

“As remediation experts determined, this placement would only allow for half of the chain’s load capacity, which was 5,000 pounds, or essentially 2,500 pounds of securing devices for a 32,000-pound vehicle,” court documents state.

Police said Love altered the evidence at the crime scene by moving chains to make it appear the load was properly secured and making false statements about the safety of the load and the number of chains used.

“The fact that some of Michael Love’s first actions after the crash were to place additional chains at the scene of the accident to indicate that the bulldozer was properly secured shows that he knew that the bulldozer was not properly secured. His behavior shows that he was aware of this.” There was a significant and unjustified risk that the bulldozer was too heavy and could become loose and fall from his truck. He then drove this improperly chained 32,000-pound bulldozer at great risk of death,” the police affidavit states.