Utah

Man arrested for DUI after rear-ending Utah County deputy

Published

1 month ago

February 2, 2026

Man arrested for DUI after rear-ending Utah County deputy

SPRINGVILLE, Utah — Police arrested a man whom they say is a “habitual offender” of driving under the influence after he crashed into a patrol vehicle.

A Utah County Sheriff’s deputy said he was patrolling in Springville early Sunday morning when a pickup truck driven by Richard Andrew Roberson, 38, collided with his vehicle. The deputy said he was stopped at a stop sign when Roberson hit him from behind.

When the deputy approached Roberson’s vehicle at a nearby gas station, he said the suspect showed signs of being intoxicated and also smelled like alcohol. He agreed to a field sobriety test, during which the officer said he showed multiple signs of being impaired.

Roberson was then arrested, and police say a urine test showed positive results for alcohol and marijuana, while a blood test is pending.

Police said Roberson’s driver’s license from California is currently suspended, and his vehicle was not insured.

While looking into Roberson’s background, police say they discovered that he’s had “nearly a dozen” DUI charges or convictions across four different states. His most recent convictions were in 2016 and 2017 in another state, but his most recent DUI charges were a pair of incidents in Utah within the past two months.

The arresting officer wrote that these factors indicate that Roberson “is a habitual offender and is a danger to the public.”

Roberson was arrested for felony DUI, driving on a suspended license, and operating a vehicle without insurance. A judge denied bail.

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Utah

Utah judge in Charlie Kirk killing case denies some efforts to limit media access – East Idaho News

Published

4 hours ago

March 13, 2026

Press Room

Utah judge in Charlie Kirk killing case denies some efforts to limit media access – East Idaho News

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus was back in court Friday as a state judge denied some efforts by his attorneys to limit public access to certain documents while not ruling out the possibility of closing portions of an upcoming hearing.

The outcome sets the stage for an April hearing in which attorneys for Tyler Robinson will make their case to exclude TV cameras, microphones and photographers from the courtroom.

Judge Tony Graf has been weighing the public’s right to know details about the case against concerns by defense attorneys that the media attention could undermine Robinson’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors, Kirk’s widow and attorneys for news organizations have urged Graf to keep the proceedings open.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for Robinson, 22, who is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem. They have said DNA evidence connects Robinson to the killing.

Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

Attorneys on Friday debated whether the defense’s written request to exclude cameras, which was classified by the court as private, should be made public.
Graf said the defense failed to make its case to keep the motion private but that he will continue “balancing all the factors” when deciding which portions of the upcoming hearing may be closed.

Staci Visser, an attorney for Robinson, told the judge that the defense is not arguing in the court of public opinion.

“There seems to be an idea that flooding the public sphere with information from this courtroom will somehow dispel conspiracy theories or shift public narratives. That, in and of itself, is concerning to the defense,” Visser said. “All we should be worried about is protecting what happens in this courtroom.”

Robinson’s defense team went on to say that the April hearing will involve discussions about prejudicial pretrial publicity — for example, evidence that has yet to be admitted, confessions, personal opinions about guilt or public statements that would otherwise be inadmissible in court.

“We don’t want to be in that position of bringing in front of the court all of this prejudicial information and having the press regurgitate it yet one more time, and reinflicting a wound that we’re seeking to avoid,” defense attorney Michael Burt said.

Christopher Ballard, a prosecutor with the Utah County Attorney’s Office, dismissed those arguments. He said careful questioning during jury selection and tools like expanding the jury pool can ensure a defendant gets a fair trial.

“So just saying that this a content tornado or there’s been a barrage of media coverage doesn’t necessarily mean that there is going to be prejudice to the defendant,” Ballard said.

Ballard noted that most of the evidence that will be discussed at the April 17 hearing is already public, so most of it should be open.

Coalitions of national and local news organizations, including The Associated Press, are fighting to preserve media access in the case.

Media access has been a focal point of several recent hearings, with the judge placing temporary restrictions on local TV stations for showing Robinson’s shackles in violation of a court order and filming close-up shots that might allow viewers to interpret what he was discussing with his attorneys.

The judge also has prevented full video recordings of Kirk’s shooting from being shown in court after defense attorneys argued the graphic footage would interfere with a fair trial. An estimated 3,000 people attended the outdoor rally to hear Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA who helped mobilize young people to vote for President Donald Trump.