Oregon Man Convicted After Driving Into Yellowstone Park Worker Redirecting Traffic

A Bend, Oregon man, 67-year-old David Tyler Regnier, was convicted by a federal jury on Wednesday for assaulting a federal employee with a dangerous weapon.

The charges arose from a  September 18, 2024, incident when Regnier drove his Jeep into a Yellowstone National Park employee attempting to redirect traffic around a construction zone.

In the three-day trial before U.S. District Court Judge Kelly H. Rankin, the court heard that two Yellowstone employees noticed a Jeep driven by Regnier approaching the intersection and driving the wrong way down the road to bypass waiting traffic as they were directing traffic near Canyon Junction, where road construction was underway.

Regnier expressed his displeasure at how traffic was being directed through the construction zone.

One of the workers told Regnier that he could not proceed and needed to back up while the other stood in the way of the jeep with a stop sign. Regnier accelerated, driving into the worker and physically pushing him backward. The worker jumped out of the Jeep’s path after it struck him.

Regnier was later stopped by Yellowstone National Park Service law enforcement officers and arrested. He was found guilty of assault on Wednesday, and sentencing has been set for August 7, 2025. Regnier faces up to 20 years in federal prison with three years of supervised release to follow, up to a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.