Riverton man accused of causing two crashes while driving under the influence in Bluffdale

BLUFFDALE, Utah (ABC4) — A Riverton man has been charged for allegedly causing two crashes while driving under the influence. The second crash left him unconscious, and a child passenger in the other vehicle required surgery for their injuries.

Richard Robert Raschka, 55, is charged with negligently operating a vehicle with serious bodily injury, failure to stop at an accident with injury, driving under the influence on the wrong side of the road, carrying a dangerous weapon while under the influence, and reckless driving.

According to court documents, on June 30, 2025, a Bluffdale Police officer responded to an accident near 14400 South Redwood Road. A woman reported that she was waiting at a red light when she was rear-ended by another driver.

After being rear-ended, the woman pulled off to the side of the road, but the other driver looked at her and continued to drive. She reported the accident, and told police that she was suffering pain in her neck and back.

Soon after, another Bluffdale Police officer responded to a different crash on Redwood Road, near Porter Rockwell Boulevard. When the officer arrived, he found that a vehicle had crossed the center line and hit another vehicle head-on.

Raschka was found unconscious in the driver’s seat, documents say. When the officer started to remove him from the vehicle, a handgun allegedly fell out of a holster on Raschka’s hip.

The car that Raschka hit head-on had a 6-year-old child occupant. According to police, the child sustained a laceration to the forehead, a fractured finger, and an open iliac crest fracture (hip bone fracture) that required surgery.

A blood test was performed on Raschka, and a Utah Public Health Analyst reported that it tested positive for 24 nonograms of oxycodone.

Raschka is not in police custody, and a court summons is being ordered for him to appear in court.