Hit and Run/DWI “Hero” Gets Blue Discount

Apparently, four times is a charm for Robert Reasoner and the Nevada Transportation Authority. It was only after his fourth DUI on January 5th of this year, when he was involved in two separate accidents within the same day, including a hit and run, that this “hero” finally managed to get someone’s attention.

Reasoner had previously been arrested for driving under the influence in 2006, 2011, and 2016. At the time of the 2006 arrest, he was working for the Nevada Attorney General’s Office. During the current incident and the two in 2011 and 2016, Reasoner was (and still is) working for the Nevada Transportation Authority, which overseas taxi and limo drivers and the companies employing them, as well as ride share services such as Uber and Lyft, within the state.

The AG’s office and NTA were officially informed about the 2006 and 2011 arrests, respectively. There’s no public record of what actions, if anything, those departments took to address those arrests. In fact, their promotion of Reasoner from an investigator to a supervisor, implies the opposite. He received in total two days in jail for the three previous DUI convictions, one of which he was allowed to plea bargain down to a reckless driving charge.

According to a Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman, they didn’t even inform the NTA of the 2016 arrest.  Reasoner, who was driving a state owned vehicle at the time, was not only drunk this time, but also had taken the prescription sedative Soma. Even so, fellow “heroes” responding to the first accident only gave him a ticket for “failing to drive with due care.”

Via the Las Vegas Review Journal:

Officials put Reasoner on paid administrative leave on Jan. 6. The Carson City District Attorney charged him last month with leaving the scene of an accident and having an open alcohol container after police found two Pabst Blue Ribbon beers in the state vehicle, court records show. Reasoner has DUI convictions for the 2006 and 2016 arrests and pleaded guilty to reckless driving for the 2011 arrest.

When police found Reasoner at the Carson City house after he fled the Jan. 5 accident, he had .002 percent blood alcohol and had taken a prescription sedative called Soma, the Carson City Sheriff’s report said.

The accident at 3 p.m. was not Reasoner’s only crash that day. About an hour before crashing into the parked SUV, Reasoner rear-ended a couple driving south on North Carson Street, police records show.

Elmer Larsen, the owner of the vehicle, was driving his 2016 Subaru Forester with his wife, Carrol, in the passenger seat when Reasoner hit them with the 2016 Ford Explorer owned by the state and fitted with police lights, Carrol Larsen said in a phone interview.

“My head hit the head rest, and my neck starting (sic) hurting right away,” she said. “I’ve had three back surgeries (before the accident), and when he slammed into the back of us, I went ‘Oh, great.’”

Reasoner, who according to police reports flashed his NTA badge during his 2011 arrest, was also wearing a badge around his neck when he approached the couple and handed them a business card before police arrived, she said.

Police wrote him a ticket for failing to drive with due care. Carrol Larsen was shocked when told of his driving history.

“I think they ought to fire him, and he needs to go jail,” she said.

Reasoner arrest warrant by Las Vegas Review-Journal on Scribd