Police detail driver's bizarre accident spree

BARRE – A driver accused of two wild vehicle collisions last Saturday – the second resulting in his car going up in flames – was ordered not to drive and to submit to substance abuse screening at his arraignment Tuesday.

Fifty-one-year-old Don Robar of Worcester pleaded innocent Tuesday in Vermont District Court to two counts of reckless or gross negligent vehicle operation after spending the weekend in jail. He was released on conditions that include he not drive at all and that he go for drug counseling.

The police affidavits revealed a string of bizarre details behind the accidents, which included allegations that Robar was inhaling computer keyboard cleaner while driving and was on crack cocaine, and had indicated a willingness to purposefully hit pedestrians and other cars.

Police said after Robar walked away without any injuries from a vehicle collision in the afternoon Saturday, Robar got back into his car, took it back out on the highway and drove it into rock ledge in the median of I-89 between exits 9 and 10. The impact with the rock caused Robar's car to go up in flames but Robar sustained only minor injuries.

A passenger in Robar's vehicle during the first collision, in which he allegedly crossed the median on I-89 going about 100 miles per hour and collided with a car driven by Varin Ang in oncoming traffic, told police Robar was spraying keyboard cleaner in his mouth while he was driving and as the collision occurred.

She also told police Robar was smoking something – not marijuana – in a room at the Vermonter Motel just before they left. She said she thought it might be crack cocaine.

Vickie Magoon, 40, was Robar's passenger in the first collision, and she sustained injuries for which she was treated at Central Vermont Medical Center. Magoon told police of a terrifying ride in which Robar was spraying chemicals into his mouth while driving 100 miles per hour and telling her he didn't "give a f***" if he hit anybody, including pedestrians.

"(Magoon) stated they entered the Berlin Mall parking lot and after making a money transaction he almost hit two pedestrians who were walking in front of his vehicle," police wrote in the affidavit.

Magoon told police she believed Robar deliberately hit Ang's vehicle.Robar told police he was driving about 80 miles per hour when his tires hit the rumble strip and he went into the median. He said he asked Magoon to tell him if there was any oncoming traffic and instead of answering him she hit him.

Magoon said when Robar's vehicle came to a rest she grabbed the keys and jumped out of the car; Robar subsequently retrieved the keys and ordered Magoon back into the car. She was then taken by emergency personnel to Central Vermont Medical Center. Robar was taken to the state police barracks in Middlesex and released on a citation, and then allowed to leave in his vehicle, which was still driveable.

Robar was charged in June in Vermont District Court in Barre with one count of careless or negligent operation of a vehicle and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, for an incident in which Robar allegedly drove his car into a residence.

Police said on June 18 four witnesses, including a passenger in Robar's vehicle, observed Robar's vehicle drive into the porch of a home in a trailer park, back up and drive into the porch again, before backing into a parked vehicle.

"Robar explained that he and the other male, later identified as Ian Whittemore … had gone to the Berlin Mall and on the way back Whittemore had been driving and they might have hit something; however he was unclear about the details. Later Robar stated that he recalled driving back from the mall but that he did not recall the crashes," wrote a Berlin police officer in an affidavit.

The June case is still pending.

After Saturday's collisions, Robar, who had previously told police he was unemployed and homeless, was interviewed by Vermont State Police Trooper Jerry Partin, who is a certified drug recognition expert.

Robar's blood alcohol content was zero percent and Partin did not detect any substantial evidence to indicate the defendant was under the influence of drugs he was trained to detect, police said.

"If the defendant had been inhaling (huffing) the cleaner the effects would have worn off very quickly," police wrote in the affidavit.

Police did seize a drug pipe with marijuana residue from Robar's car and they did observe a can of keyboard cleaning spray in it, as well.

Robar, who has a criminal record dating back to 1986, was given seven days to seek out substance abuse screening at Washington County Substance Abuse Services.