Woman causes deadly three-car crash in Utah — while watching porn on her phone: police

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Cody, D. (2026, October 21). Woman causes deadly three-car crash in Utah — while watching porn on her phone: police. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/20/us-news/woman-causes-deadly-three-car-crash-in-utah-while-watching-porn-on-her-phone/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-21 · by Daniel Cody

Quick Summary

Christine Chao, 44, from California, was charged with automobile homicide after causing a fatal crash in Utah on June 12 while watching pornography on her phone. Police reports state that traffic was slowed due to construction when Chao’s SUV hit the rear of another vehicle, causing it to collide with one ahead. The collision resulted in Scott LaVar Lichfield, 66, suffering fatal injuries; he was described as a beloved family member and Sunday school teacher. Examination of Chao's phone showed she had accessed a pornographic website just before the crash, indicating no attempt to brake prior to impact.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Christine Chao, a 44-year-old California resident, caused a deadly three-car crash in Utah on June 12, while watching porn on her phone. According to charging documents reviewed by KSL, Chao's SUV struck a rearmost vehicle, which then collided with another car ahead of it. The collision led to the death of Scott LaVar Lichfield, a 66-year-old passenger in one of the cars, who suffered fatal head injuries.

Chao told responding officers she was at fault and police found that her phone had been used on a porn site less than two minutes before the crash. The incident occurred when traffic on I-15 was slowed due to construction, leading investigators to note there were no brake marks on the road indicating an attempt to slow down before impact.

Lichfield is described as a loving husband and grandfather by those who knew him.

Written for “Woman Crashes Car While Watching Porn” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Woman Crashes Car While Watching Porn
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
22%
4 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Daniel Cody
72 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Responding officers noted that they did not see any brake marks on the road, which would have indicated that Chao tried to slow down.
2026-10-21 · mixed framing · Woman causes deadly three-car crash in Utah — while watching porn on her phone: police
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All 72 articles by Daniel Cody →

Topics

California KSL Rosemead TMZ Utah

Subjects

Chao PERSON · 3× Christine Chao PERSON · 2× ABC4 ORG · 1× California GPE · 1× KSL ORG · 1× Lichfield PERSON · 1× Rosemead GPE · 1× Scott LaVar Lichfield PERSON · 1× TMZ ORG · 1× Utah GPE · 1×

Narrative

“Two vehicles were traveling at a slower speed when a vehicle driven by the defendant, Christine Chao, struck the rearmost vehicle, causing it to crash into the vehicle ahead of it,” charging documents viewed by KSL state.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21
🔮 Responding officers noted that they did not see any brake marks on the road, which would have indicated that Chao tried to slow down.
2026-10-21 · New York Post
Woman causes deadly three-car crash in Utah — while watching porn on her phone: police · mixed framing

Claims (18 extracted, 4 hedged)

A California driver caused a fatal car crash in Utah while watching porn on her phone, police said. asserted
police → cause → phone
Christine Chao, 44, was charged Tuesday with automobile homicide for the crash on June 12, according to TMZ. uncertain
Chao → charge → TMZ
At the time, construction on I-15 had slowed traffic to a near halt, when Chao plowed her SUV into a car — and cause it to smack into another slowed vehicle. asserted
it → slow → vehicle
“Two vehicles were traveling at a slower speed when a vehicle driven by the defendant, Christine Chao, struck the rearmost vehicle, causing it to crash into the vehicle ahead of it,” charging documents viewed by KSL state. asserted
documents → travel → KSL
The Rosemead native reportedly “told officers she was at fault” and after examining her phone police found that she had hopped on a porn site “less than two minutes before the crash.” uncertain
she → tell → crash
Chao was getting her fix when she slammed her blue SUV into a white sedan, according to ABC4. uncertain
she → get → ABC4
The sedan then crashed into another SUV driving in front of it and all three vehicles careened off the road. asserted
vehicles → crash → road
Scott LaVar Lichfield, 66, was riding in the backseat of one of the cars when he suffered a fatal head injury. asserted
he → rid → injury
Lichfield was reportedly a loving husband and grandfather. uncertain
Lichfield → love → ?
“It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of our sweet Husband, Dad, Papa (Pop Pop), Uncle, Cousin, Nephew,” reads his obituary. asserted
obituary → announce → Nephew
“He was one very loved gentle soul.” asserted
He → love → ?
He was remembered as a Sunday school teacher and finance professional. asserted
He → remember → teacher
“Scott served faithfully in many callings as a Sunday School Teacher to a couple of crowds of boys and a lone girl. asserted
Scott → serve → boys
He loved those kids,” the obituary continued. asserted
obituary → love → kids
“Nursery leader, Elders Quorum Teacher, Scout Leader (a calling that he completely loved with all his heart), and Financial Clerk. asserted
he → love → heart
He loved serving among all these good men. asserted
He → love → men
He served as a financial clerk in three different wards.” asserted
He → serve → wards
Responding officers noted that they did not see any brake marks on the road, which would have indicated that Chao tried to slow down. asserted
Chao → respond → road
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