Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Bobby Dee Barker, 60, is charged in a hit-and-run involving a motorcycle last month.
- Barker is accused of hiding his damaged vehicle and removing parts after the incident.
- He faces charges from a separate case involving hitting a 2-year-old girl.
SALT LAKE CITY — A West Jordan driver accused of hitting a motorcycle and injuring two riders nearly a month ago has been arrested after police say his vehicle was found hidden in his yard.
The crash comes more than a year after Bobby Dee Barker, 60, allegedly hit a 2-year-old girl while driving with meth in his system in a separate criminal case.
Barker was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday and charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with obstruction of justice and two counts of failing to stop for a serious injury accident, third-degree felonies; evidence tampering, a class A misdemeanor; and making an improper U-turn, an infraction.
On Jan. 18, police say Barker made a U-turn at Cleveland Avenue and Main Street, "causing a collision with a motorcycle that was driving north on Main Street. Both the driver and passenger of the motorcycle received serious bodily injuries and were transported to the hospital," according to a police booking affidavit.
Barker, however, did not stick around and was recorded on a dashboard camera "driving off while causing sparks … from the damage on his vehicle," the affidavit alleges.
After eventually identifying the registered owner of the vehicle, police went to Barker's residence and found the vehicle covered "with tarps, tires and ladders" in the backyard. After a search warrant was obtained, detectives discovered Barker had removed the front end, driver-side, front-quarter panel and driver-side front wheel. Those parts were never located," the affidavit says.
Officers did not locate Barker until Tuesday when he was arrested.
Police say the motorcycle operator sustained "critical injuries across his body requiring multiple surgeries" while his passenger suffered "serious bodily injury to the back and leg."
Barker also currently faces charges of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in serious injury, a third-degree felony; and failing to maintain his travel lane, an infraction, for a separate incident on Aug. 13, 2023. In that case, Barker is accused of hitting a parked vehicle at 7109 S. 2200 West, pushing the vehicle over the curb and running over the leg of 2-year-old Addie Pulsipher. The young girl had to undergo several surgeries for her injuries. Barker's next scheduled court appearance in that case is Feb. 21.
