LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A trooper clocked a driver for going nearly 30 miles over the speed limit. The ticket would later end in a fine and no points on the driver’s license. Less than a year later, that same driver caused a crash that left nine people dead, including himself.
Gary Dean Robinson, 59, of North Las Vegas, was behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger on Jan. 29, 2022, when he ran a red light at 103 mph at the intersection of Commerce Street and Cheyenne Avenue, crashing into a minivan carrying a family of seven.
A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped Robinson for driving 91 mph on Interstate 15 on Feb. 3, 2021, video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained indicated. The speed limit on that section of the road is 65 mph. The trooper cited Robinson for traveling at 80 mph, not 91.
“The reason I pulled you over is because you’re going 91 in a 65. What’s up with the speed?” the trooper asked Robinson in the video.
Less than a year later, Robinson would be dead in the 2022 crash involving 15 people. Nine people died.
As the 8 News Now Investigators reported earlier this week, Robinson was repeatedly stopped for speeding in the months leading up to the fatal crash, but those violations failed to show up on his driving record because they resulted in lesser parking citations and fines.
In May 2017, Henderson police charged Robinson with speeding 11-to-20 miles over the speed limit. The charge was reduced to an illegal parking violation. A judge ordered Robinson to pay a $198 fine. Because he failed to pay the fine, Robinson’s license was then suspended from December 2017 to January 2020, records showed.
In August 2020, North Las Vegas police stopped Robinson for driving 50 mph in a 45-mph zone. The charge was amended to a parking violation following a $346 fine.
In November 2020, North Las Vegas police stopped Robinson again, this time for driving 67 mph in a 45-mph zone. Robinson pleaded nolo contendre, meaning he accepted the fact prosecutors had enough evidence to sway a jury to convict him, but he did not admit guilt. He was ordered to pay a $604 fine.
Then the stop in February 2021 where the trooper cited Robinson for driving 80 mph, when he clocked him at 91 mph. Robinson again pleaded nolo contendre. The fine was $643.
In August 2021, police in Las Vegas charged Robinson for driving 55 mph in a 35-zone. He pleaded guilty and the charge was reduced to a parking violation. A fine was leveled but then vacated.
In December 2021, Las Vegas Metro police stopped Robinson for driving 64 mph in a 45-mph zone. Though the officer in that stop knocked Robinson’s charge to a lesser speeding charge — from 10-to-19 over the speed limit down to zero-to-10 over — Robinson was still required to go to court. The ticket would too end up reduced to an illegal parking violation with a $150 fine.
Though he was stopped several times for speeding, Robinson’s driving record included just one documented speeding ticket. The speeding tickets were lowered to other violations, records the 8 News Now Investigators reviewed indicated.
“I need you to slow down,” the trooper in Robinson’s February 2021 stop cautioned. “I understand you want to get home, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself or anybody else on these roadways.”
At the time of his death, Robinson’s driving record showed no active demerit points and no moving violations other than the 2017 ticket, documents said.
In 2021, the Nevada Legislature made speeding tickets a civil violation, meaning defendants no longer have to go before a judge. The process is streamlined online and no longer carries jail time.
Even though he died in January 2022, the 8 News Now Investigators found several warrants out for Robinson’s arrest for failing to pay several of those speeding-related fines. The new law quashed warrants for unpaid fines, including Robinson’s.