COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (Scripps News Salt Lake City) — Just over a week before taking his children on a treacherous hike — from which one child is still hospitalized — a Utah father was involved in a lengthy and at times tense traffic stop.

Micah Smith appears in bodycam footage during a traffic stop on Oct. 4, 2025. (Scripps News Salt Lake City)

On Oct. 11, Micah Smith took his three young children on a hike on the Broads Fork Trail in Big Cottonwood Canyon, right as a storm was coming in. They didn’t make it down on their own and were rescued the next day . Smith was later charged with child abuse .

MORE | Father accused of leading children on dangerous hike denied jail release

Scripps News Salt Lake City has obtained body-worn camera footage of a traffic stop just days pri

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