Bryan Kohberger, a suspect in the killing of four University of Idaho students, was pulled over twice in Indiana in mid-December, including once in Hancock County. He was released after receiving a warning for following too closely before later being picked up in another state.
HANCOCK COUNTY — Officials from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department say one of their deputies stopped an Idaho murder suspect for a traffic violation in December but released the man with a warning prior to his arrest on murder charges when he was captured in Pennsylvania.
At the time of the traffic violation and verbal warning, local officials said in a press release, there were no details about the murder suspect or a vehicle being shared about the crime, so the local official had no idea who they had stopped.
On December 15, 2022, at approximately 10:41 a.m., a member of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop with a white Hyundai Elantra on I-70 containing murder suspect Bryan Kohberger.
The Hyundai was pulled over just east of the rest park near the 107 mile marker for the violation of following too closely, officials said. The vehicle was occupied by two males including the driver who was identified as Kohberger. Both males can be seen on body-worn camera footage, officials said. The driver was released with a verbal warning for following another vehicle too closely.
When the traffic stop occurred, there was no information available on a suspect for the four murders in Idaho, officials said. There was no identifying information or any specific details related to the license plate of the white Hyundai Elantra being reported or shared.
The Hyundai was also pulled over a short time later in Indiana, officials said, by a member of the Indiana State Police, who also released the driver with a verbal warning. Kohberger was later arrested in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger, 28, is a Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University. Officials say he had just finished his first semester on the school’s campus in Pullman, about a 15-minute drive west of Moscow, Idaho, where the slayings took place.
He’s been charged with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students and waived an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania earlier this week.
Hancock County Sheriff’s body-worn camera footage captured the traffic stop and the vehicle occupants. Since the video was being considered part of the active criminal investigation in Idaho, it was not immediately released, local officials said. However, the department noted it was available as of Wednesday, Jan. 4.
