Arrest made in fatal hit-and-run, police believe attack was targeted
Jul 7, 2023, 6:30 AM | Updated: Jul 10, 2023, 4:16 pm
Salt Lake City Police respond to a fatal hit-and-run crash early Monday morning. (Salt Lake City Police Department)
(Salt Lake City Police Department)
SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested the man who they say intentionally hit and killed a man riding on a scooter this week.
According to Salt Lake City Police, Robert Boyatt was arrested and booked on a murder charge and other charges Thursday night.
“This is something that we haven’t stopped working on since the moment the call for service came in,” said SLCPD Sgt. Mark Wian about the arrest.
Authorities located Boyatt at a campsite in Tooele County, where he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
According to a probable cause statement, the suspect admitted during a police interview to driving the vehicle and striking 61-year-old Victor Hershberger, who died at the scene.
Documents said witnesses told police Boyatt knew Hershberger and was looking for him on a “vengeance spree.”
Witnesses told police they saw Boyatt flip a U-turn to hit Hershberger while he was on a scooter near 1000 North and 1000 West on Monday.
The documents also said Boyatt admitted that he did not stop after hitting the victim and then abandoned the vehicle to avoid detection by law enforcement. Additionally, the document said, Boyatt admitted that he was driving the vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
Police recovered the vehicle on Tuesday. The vehicle had damage consistent with the collision.
