Park Hill Journal paper offers story on Robinson arraignment

The Park Hill Journal offers coverage of Friday's arraignment of Rep. Brad Robinson, D-Bonne Terre and his wife, Tara, on felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident. Both waived arraignment. The article features this description of the case from the probable cause statement:

A probable cause statement written by Bonne Terre Sgt. Bill Stegall states police were told Tara Robinson was driving the Robinson’s vehicle when it struck a pedestrian early New Year’s Day. He said North County High School’s surveillance footage “depicts Brad Robinson leaving the driver’s side of the truck and switching positions in the vehicle with his wife.”On Jan. 18, the passengers, who are not being identified by police, were reinterviewed independently. They said Brad Robinson was driving when the truck struck the man on Raider Road. They said Tara Robinson told them to tell police that she was driving and not her husband.The probable cause statement states Lt. Chris Thurman and Officer Chad Brown responded to a call for a man lying in the roadway at 1:20 a.m. They saw the injured pedestrian, Donnie Marler being treated by ambulance personnel.At the scene, Brown approached two females, one later identified as Tara Robinson, and asked them if they saw what happened.
Tara Robinson said she saw the man in the ditch and tried to help him. Brown also found a broken black mirror, which appeared to be from the vehicle that struck Marler.At 1:51 a.m. Sheriff Dan Bullock called Thurman and asked him to come to Brad Robinson’s home. Brad Robinson had reportedly called the sheriff from the scene and asked him to respond.At the Robinsons’ home, Tara and Brad Robinson told Thurman that Tara Robinson was driving their truck when it struck something. They said they went back and found the man on the road.Thurman examined their truck, a black Ford F-150, and observed fresh damage to the truck and its broken mirror.“Tara Robinson then filled out a written statement, stating that she was driving when she struck something and went back and saw a man laying on the side of the road,” the police report states.At that time, other passengers in the vehicle completed written statements which “concurred” with the Robinsons’ statements.