Dad and daughter crushed to death by bulldozer that rolled off truck, landed on their vehicle after driver failed to properly secure it

A tow-truck operator successful Utah is headed to situation for killing a CEO of an outdoor instrumentality institution and his 16-year-old daughter aft failing to safely unafraid a bulldozer helium was hauling connected a flatbed trailer, which rolled implicit portion helium was going astir a curve and crushed the brace to death.

"If I could instrumentality it back, I would," said the trucker, Michael John Love, successful tribunal connected Friday arsenic helium was sentenced to a full of 4 to 23 years successful situation for assorted charges related to the clang that killed Richard Hendrickson and his girl Sally Hendrickson, according to section NBC affiliate KSL.

"I deliberation astir it each azygous day," Love told the court. "I imagination astir it each azygous night. It's thing that I'm going to person to unrecorded with for the remainder of my life. I screwed up. I admit it."

Love, who was recovered guilty successful July, was sentenced to 1 to 15 years successful situation for an aggravated battle charge; 364 days each for 2 negligent homicide charges; up to 5 years for 1 number of obstruction of justice; and 364 days for different number of obstruction of justness for lying astir however helium secured the bulldozer that killed the father-daughter brace successful July 2024. Hendrickson's woman and 2 different children were injured.

"The conveyance [Love was driving] was negotiating a right-hand curve erstwhile the bulldozer broke free, sliding disconnected the driver's side," the Utah Highway Patrol wrote successful its report connected the incident. The clang happened connected SR-39, a two-lane way that runs done the scenic Ogden Canyon.

"A GMC pickup was traveling westbound towing a boat," UHP officials said, successful notation to the Hendricksons. "The bulldozer landed connected the GMC pickup. The big antheral operator and 1 juvenile pistillate rider were pronounced dormant connected the scene. Two different big passengers were transported with non-life-threatening injuries."

Charging documents for Love outlined however helium failed to unafraid the bulldozer successful a due and harmless manner, causing the clang that day, per KSL.

"The bulldozer landed connected apical of the rider compartment of the victim-vehicle, crushing and killing" the Hendricksons, according to Weber County prosecutors.

Love agreed to speech with investigators astatine Utah Highway Patrol aft the clang and claimed "he ne'er near his question lane, and that the victim's conveyance near the westbound bound lane and struck him." He insisted that the bulldozer helium was hauling was secured properly, telling investigators that helium enactment chains astatine 4 points of interaction — "two [on] the back, 'two connected the front, and 'one implicit the bucket," per the charging documents.

Love besides alleged that helium utilized a "J hook from the tow concatenation connected the dozer and a concatenation implicit the bucket, for a full of six restraints."

Describing what whitethorn person caused the bulldozer to topple, Love said helium believed it was "too heavy" and excessively tall.

"It's the tallness that gets you," helium told investigators, "admitting that the tallness of the furniture connected the conveyance and the value of the dozer made it unstable," according to prosecutors.

When exigency crews arrived astatine the scene, Love — proprietor of Love Towing retired of Marriott-Slaterville, Utah — was recovered "moving chains" and tampering with items adjacent the retention compartment of the flatbed. He was ordered to "leave everything wherever it is," with constabulary reporting that helium placed chains wherever they should person been successful bid to support the bulldozer successful place.

Surveillance video from a state presumption that Love visited showed that the bulldozer helium was hauling was not decently chained down. Investigators said that aft watching the footage, it was "clearly visible" that Love had been lying astir everything.

"The video intelligibly shows that determination is lone 1 hook secured to the beforehand of the dozer, which is the 'winch cable' attached and does not legally number arsenic a unafraid attachment," prosecutors charged. "On the backmost and mediate of the dozer is simply a azygous concatenation to the furniture of the truck."

Authorities said "some of Michael Love's archetypal actions aft the clang were to effort to spot much chains into the country to bespeak that [the] bulldozer was secured properly," yet showing that helium "knew the bulldozer was not decently secured," according to his charging documents.

"There were simply nary excuses for an individual, a licensed tow motortruck driver, to transportation this bulldozer that was implicit 30,000 pounds connected a metallic way flatbed," the justice told Love connected Friday, according to KSL.

Richard Hendrickson, the CEO of the Utah-based institution Lifetime Products, was progressive connected societal media some arsenic a begetter and concern leader, posting regularly astir his occupation and household life, including his daughter.

"I miss him each day," said Richard Hendrickson's wife, Julie Hendrickson, astatine Love's sentencing. "We had truthful galore plans to bash truthful overmuch together."