A DUI crash could have been much worse for a local celebrity if it weren’t for a concrete sign taking the damage. According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause, officers responded to the area of 800 West Main Street in Vernal near the T-Rex dinosaur statue where the crash occurred. A passenger in the vehicle was taken by ambulance to the hospital due to their injuries. The driver, 23-year-old Derrick Joseph Bowman, admitted that he had been drinking at a bar with multiple friends before driving. Witnesses stated that Derrick was driving at a high rate of speed before the crash. Bowman failed the field sobriety testing and eventually refused to perform any more tests, asking to just be taken to jail. He was placed in handcuffs and transported to the hospital for a blood draw which he refused. After a warrant was obtained and the blood draw performed, he was transported to the Uintah County Jail and booked on the charges of DUI, Negligently Operating A Vehicle Resulting In Injury, and Reckless Driving.
