Prosecutors: Springdale Coach Had Previous Conviction

Last updated Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:15 PM CDT in News

By The Morning News

    SPRINGDALE - A Springdale junior high coach arrested for drunken driving Friday in Fayetteville also was arrested for drunken driving in October 2007, according to Springdale prosecutors.

    Robert Alan Wright, 39, of 2106 Bluebird Drive, was stopped by Springdale police Oct. 20 on Carley Street after officers observed Wright's pickup crossing the center line and speeding, according to a police report.

    Wright pleaded guilty to the charge Nov. 2 in district court. He was fined $150 and ordered to pay $300 in court costs. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail with nine days suspended and given credit for one day served on the condition he have no similar offense for one year and complete an alcohol rehabilitation program within six months.

    He was arrested Friday by Fayetteville police at the Burger King, 1730 W. Sixth St. in connection with driving under the influence. Fayetteville officers found Wright asleep behind the wheel of his parked car with the motor running.

    Wright failed field sobriety tests and registered a 0.155 on the blood-alcohol content test, police said.

    Jeff Harper, the Springdale city prosecutor, said Tuesday that if Wright is convicted on the charges in Fayetteville, Harper will revoke the suspended sentence and Wright will have to spend nine days in jail on the Springdale conviction.

    Wright is an assistant football and track coach at Southwest Junior High School in Springdale.

    Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins declined to discuss Wright's Friday arrest. Rollins confirmed, "Rob Wright is employed by the Springdale School District but not in the summer."

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    Reader Comments (14 comment(s))


    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.

    justalocal wrote on Jul 29, 2008 8:03 PM:

    " What happened to all of you commenting this wasn't news worthy earlier?
    Looks like this person is not fit to be an example to the children he coaches!! "

    ozarks wrote on Jul 30, 2008 4:57 AM:

    " justalocal = It is obvious you have an axe to grind with thios fellow. Tell me for us that just read the paper are to know this was the 2nd DUI? You didn't tell us, the paper didn't know. Are you attacking those that wondered about a DUI being news worthy. Are you so eat up that any one that ask a question abut this fellow you get your feathers up and taught. Did you know this was DUI 2? Take a breath instead of taughting. Grow up. "

    NWAHOGALUM wrote on Jul 30, 2008 8:10 AM:

    " Hey Ozarks, calm down man. This is definitely newsworthy. Whether this is his first DUI or 5th or whatever, this man has chosen to be a role model for children by the career choice he made. He needs to be a role model in both his personal and professional lives bacause of this choice. "

    justalocal wrote on Jul 30, 2008 8:21 AM:

    " Ozark... I don't have a clue who this guy is, my point was... he is a teacher!!.. who is suppose to be a role model for his students. In my opinion 1 DWI for any teacher is one too many. I wouldn't go to a church where the Preacher had a DWI!! "

    recross1 wrote on Jul 30, 2008 10:43 AM:

    " calm down guys geeze ,lets look at this as it should be,he is a Teacher,whether it is summer time or not he is still a teacher and as such this type of behavior is not acceptable.
    I have a question though,if his vehicle would have been shut off would they have even bothered him? I will say that if a person feels they have had to much to drink and instead of driving,goes to sleep in thier car,no problem,but in leaving the vehicle running and chosing to sleep in a very public place shows he was to drunk to think about it and he had to drive to get there so off to jail he should go.
    And this being his 2nd dui in less than a year evidently,he should be treated just like everone else.Actually a little worse because he was a role model for todays kids and they should see what happens when you let stupidity over take your life and decide to drink and drive. "

    violet1 wrote on Jul 30, 2008 3:12 PM:

    " Can I add this "white" man to my NWA most wanted gringo list because it sure is getting long..... "

    ironfortified wrote on Jul 30, 2008 7:57 PM:

    " The president and vice-president of this country both have DUIs. This coach is just following their example. Punishment for a DUI is a slap on the wrist and some counseling. You have to get 4 or 5 before it's even a felony. If I had to deal with junior high students and their parents I'd be looking for a beer at the end of the day too. "

    ozarks wrote on Jul 30, 2008 8:53 PM:

    " Hey NWAHOGALUM, you calm down. I am not sticking up for this guy, it was an observation and becasue he doesn't play your little boys enough that I am sure are going to groem up to play for the Hogs, is a shame. DWI is a bad crime, I agree, but if it was news worthy then why was the first DUI not published. I am sure he will resign now anyway. I forgot this thread had nothing but perfect folks, well except violet1. "

    insight2 wrote on Jul 31, 2008 3:45 AM:

    " Wright is human and humans make mistakes. Should he resign, no. Should there be consequences, yes. Talk about no child left behind. What about no teacher left behind. Many Fortune 500 Companies take employees in his situation under their wing and offer help, rather than cast them aside. How many professors, doctors, lawyers, therapists, congressmen, senators, chairpersons and presidents get dwi's? Lots. How many give up their livelihood over it? Not many. And who are they role models to and responsible for? Students, patients, clients, shareholders and even an entire nation. Student-athletes may very well learn how to handle failure by witnessing a real person who made real mistakes pick himself up by his own bootstraps to right the ship. Yes, he is a role model. But not many models are perfect in this life. Very few are. Pressure to be perfect and ramifications of imperfection are a societal delimma in itself. This may be an opportunity for a role model to teach kids how to ask for help, overcome imperfections and go on with life. "

    flamingo79 wrote on Jul 31, 2008 6:35 AM:

    " insight2 - I disagree with you - this man should resign. When did individuals stop taking responsibility for their actions and do the right thing? This man holds a position of authority over impressionable children - he has been arrested TWO times within the past 9 months. As part of his last plea - he accepted the terms to not get arrested again within a 1 year period and to go through treatment. He obviously broke his first "promise" to the judge - wonder if he completed his treatment? There are a lot of jobs where the FIRST arrest would cause him to lose his job - instead he was given a 2nd chance. He blew it - and needs to "teach" the students a much more valuable lesson - he needs to accept the consequences of his actions. "

    scout65708 wrote on Jul 31, 2008 9:57 AM:

    " Teachers have morals clauses in their contracts. The first DWI could be dealt with as a mistake and give him a chance to better himself. The second one, is a no go. They should fire him now. "

    ozarks wrote on Aug 1, 2008 4:28 PM:

    " Well, I see he did resign as well as you should have. I agree with scout. One DUI is one thing, two, this fellow needs to look at his life and should not be in the postition of teaching young people right now. Resigning will allow him the time to get help and deal with the legal issues and return to teaching in time. I hope he will change his life and learn DUI is something that will and has lead to a lot of trouble. Glad it wasn't a DUI that was involved in an accident. It is not worth it. Trust me. "

    onlooker wrote on Aug 1, 2008 11:09 PM:

    " No reason this man should be fired....he is following the example of the SPS Admin. I think his boss had a DUI a few days after her hire. Of course we still enforce random drug testing and punishment for athletes in the district...does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? "

    sunflowerboat wrote on Aug 6, 2008 5:12 PM:

    " i am amazed that you all are not screaming to fire the Superintendent I see he is always not wanting to discuss these issues when they arise you all need to can Rollins and his 150,000 salary "


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