Rogers, former UW football player, charged with DUI accident again

Twenty years after he killed three teenagers in a drunken-driving accident, Reggie Rogers, a former NFL first-round draft pick and athlete at the University of Washington, was charged this week with driving under the influence again.

Authorities say Rogers, 44, of Federal Way, was involved in a hit-and-run DUI collision Nov. 26 on Interstate 5 near Southcenter in Tukwila.

The man in the car that was hit was not seriously injured, authorities say.

After the accident, the State Patrol was alerted. A trooper saw a 2002 Chevy Suburban leaving the accident scene and heading south on Highway 99 "with a driver slouched behind the wheel," according to charging papers.

When the trooper pulled Rogers over at South 184th Street and handcuffed him, he noticed "an overwhelming odor of intoxicants," records say. Rogers, whose eyes were "bloodshot and watery," was having trouble moving and standing and kept slurring his words, documents say.

Rogers was arrested and taken to the King County Jail. He was released Tuesday evening after posting $10,000 bail.

Records show Rogers was belligerent toward officers, cursing and refusing a breath test. He also repeatedly told officers he was an NFL pro.

Rogers, once a talented player who was one of UW's most versatile athletes, won the Morris Trophy for the Pac-10's top defensive lineman in the 1980s. He came to Washington on a basketball scholarship, and left as a first-round pick by the NFL Detroit Lions.

But in 1990, he went from football star to convict. He was found guilty of negligent homicide after his car ran a stop sign in Pontiac, Mich., on Oct. 20, 1988, colliding with another car, killing the three teenagers.

The Lions dropped him. And after serving a year in prison, Rogers told reporters he vowed to get his life back on track. The Buffalo Bills picked him up in 1991 but dropped him after playing him in only two games.

Since then, court records in this state show he has been arrested for a string of DUIs, assault and other criminal traffic violations.

His wife, Srey Rogers, said her husband is "very loving and caring. But lately, things haven't gone his way."

She said they separated a month ago after eight years of marriage, and that he is on various medications to treat clinical depression. They also have an 8-year-old daughter who is disabled, she said.

She said that her husband needs help, "but in order for him to do so, he needs to help himself."

Rogers came to Washington on a basketball scholarship, and played three seasons for the Huskies.

His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 11 in King County District Court in Burien.

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times news researcher Gene Balk contributed

to this report, which also includes information from Times archives.