This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A former Price police officer has been sentenced to jail time for filing a false insurance claim after letting his pickup truck roll off a hill.
Robert Iain Walker, 33, was originally charged with filing a false or fraudulent insurance claim, a second-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a third-degree felony.
In February, he accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to a reduced third-degree felony count.
Last week, 7th District Judge Douglas Thomas suspended a zero-to-five-year prison term in favor of 36 months probation and 120 days in the Carbon County jail.
Carbon County Attorney Gene Strate said Wednesday that Walker filed a false insurance claim regarding a 2012 Dodge pickup truck that rolled down a hill and was damaged on Aug. 27, 2012.
Strate said Walker was having marital issues, and was having trouble making payments on the truck because of a pending divorce. He said Walker originally told police that he drove the truck to an overlook in the small city of Columbia near East Carbon, and didn't put his truck into park when he left the vehicle to urinate, and it accidentally rolled off the hill.
"He ultimately confessed that he allowed the truck to go over the hill," Strate said.
Walker told his wife, who was unaware that the damage was intentional, to file an insurance claim on the truck, Strate said.
Along with probation and jail time, Thomas ordered Walker to pay $21,945 in restitution to American Family Mutual Insurance. A hearing to determine whether further restitution should be paid was set for May 17.
Price Police Captain Bill Barnes said Wednesday that Walker worked for four years with the department. He was terminated on Sept. 20 after police department officials learned of the charges.
Twitter: @jm_miller