Former sports radio host for 1280 The Zone in Utah, Spencer Checketts, began serving jail time on Monday stemming from a DUI.
Checketts was arrested on February 26th for going 120mph in a 70mph zone. The Utah Highway Patrol trooper that stopped Checketts at 1:30am smelled alcohol and saw a beer can on the floor. Checketts entered a guilty plea which dropped the open container charge as well as the speeding infraction.
The former radio host was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but the judge suspended 145 days and allowed 30 days of credit for the time Checketts spent in treatment. Checketts is left with just five days remaining on the sentence, which he will serve this week.
Checketts, who according to court records, had two previous DUI convictions, was ordered to pay a $1,610 fine, complete counseling and stay out of bars. Checketts resigned from his afternoon show on Utah’s 1280 The Zone shortly after his February arrest.
A second sports radio host is involved in a separate DUI arrest. At approximately 3am on Sunday, Will Burge, was arrested for a wrong-way crash which left a woman seriously injured.
Burge, formerly of ESPN Cleveland and iHeartMedia’s WTAM 1100, hit a car head on while going east in a westbound lane. Burge was taken to the hospital with minor injuries while his passenger was not hurt, but the 56-year old woman driving the other vehicle was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Burge was already departed from his previous radio employers prior to the arrest. Burge had been hosting a podcast where he recently called out another host, Tony Rizzo, for having burner Twitter accounts and Cavalier owner, Dan Gilbert, for drunk-texting members of the Cleveland media.
Burge is due in court later this week, facing charges of aggravated vehicular assault and driving under the influence.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
