PROVO -- When Robert J. Kent Van Dyke appeared in 4th District Court Monday, it wasn't the first time he had stood before a judge on allegations of driving drunk.
In the past, however, he's always walked out of court a free man -- able to post bail following his arrests and avoiding substantial jail time on several past DUI convictions.But circumstances are different this time. The charges he now faces are felonies, and his bail is set at $500,000 -- an unusually high amount. Van Dyke, 34, Springville, could be behind bars for some time -- possibly as long as 15 years.
To reach this point, however, Van Dyke had to ignore prior admonishments from judges following convictions for drunken driving and be arrested again on accusations of driving drunk and driving on a revoked license. And now, a woman is dead.
West Valley police allege that Van Dyke's blood-alcohol content was 0.36 percent, more than four times the legal limit of 0.08 percent, the night his small pickup truck crashed into Michelle Bradley's Ford Explorer on U-111near 4800 South in West Valley City.
The violent collision killed Bradley, 36, West Valley City, and injured her daughter. Amber Bradley, 12, lost an eye in the Jan. 28 accident. A family friend, who was nine months pregnant, was hospitalized, and the family's black Labrador was also killed.
At times paramedics didn't think Van Dyke would survive. He was resuscitated more than once while being flown to the hospital.
Salt Lake County prosecutors recently charged Van Dyke in 3rd District Court with automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; driving under the influence, a third-degree felony; and driving with a denied license, a class B misdemeanor.
He is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail awaiting an April 14 preliminary hearing before Judge Dennis Fuchs.
Less than two weeks prior to the collision that killed Michelle Bradley, Van Dyke was arrested by Utah Highway Patrol troopers near Provo and charged with drunken driving. He bailed out of the Utah County Jail about a week before the woman's death.
He appeared in the Provo courtroom Monday to hear charges relating to that Jan. 16 arrest. Besides the charges he faces in Salt Lake County, Van Dyke is also facing in Utah County a charge of driving while intoxicated, a third-degree felony; driving without a license, a class B misdemeanor; and operating a vehicle with an open container, a class C misdemeanor. The drunken-driving charge is a felony because of Van Dyke's past DUI convictions. He has another hearing in the case set for April 17.
According to court records, Van Dyke's legal troubles began more than a decade ago. In 1988, he was convicted of having an open container while driving in St. George. In 1990, he was convicted in Murray of driving 100 mph in a 55 mph zone. He was convicted in 1993 of reckless driving in Orem.
Troopers also arrested Van Dyke in May 1997 near Lehi and charged him with driving under the influence. In February 1999, Springville police arrested him and charged him with drunken driving after stopping him on Main Street.
Later that summer, Provo police arrested him and charged him with another DUI. Late last year, he pleaded guilty in that case to a reduced charge of alcohol-related reckless driving. He was fined $500, ordered to complete 10 hours of community service and to undergo a substance-abuse evaluation. A court document says Van Dyke failed to appear for the court-ordered evaluation.
On Sept. 1, 1999, Springville police again arrested Van Dyke and charged him with supplying alcohol to minors. However, that charge was dismissed recently after Salt Lake authorities filed the more serious homicide charge.
Van Dyke's latest drunken-driving charge carries a possible punishment of up to five years in prison. The automobile homicide charge has a possible sentence of one to 15 years in prison.
If Van Dyke is convicted of the charges a judge would have the discretion of imposing concurrent sentences or making one sentence begin after the other is complete.