Police: Semi driver was watching Netflix on phone before crash that killed 2

FARIBAULT, Minn. — Minnesota authorities say a truck driver who killed an Iowa couple on the interstate in August 2023 was watching Netflix on his phone at the time of the crash.

Billie Joe Grimes, 55, of Lansing, Tennessee, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide in the crash that killed Matthew Henry Hansen, 57, and Cimberly Ellen Hansen, 56, of Urbandale, Iowa.

Grimes is also charged with one count of criminal vehicular operation in the fatal collision.

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Rice County prosecutors allege that Grimes, a commercial driver with five years of experience, was traveling north on Interstate 35 the afternoon of Aug. 25 when he approached a construction zone, which had traffic at a standstill. Grimes rear-ended two vehicles, a Toyota Camry and a Chevrolet pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer.

The crash “(sent) the crushed Toyota into the ditch,” according to a news release. “The semi and pickup continued into the ditch, through a barbed wire fence and up to railroad tracks east of the interstate.”

The pickup and its trailer ended up overturned on the train tracks, KSTP in Minneapolis reported.

The pickup driver suffered only minor injuries but the Hansens, who were traveling in the Camry, were not so lucky.

“Witnesses who stopped for the crash attempted to rescue a man and his wife from inside Camry, but reported the female passenger was deceased by the time they got to the vehicle,” prosecutors wrote. “The male driver initially had a faint pulse, but witnesses told a state trooper that it was undetectable just minutes later.”

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Grimes told witnesses and investigating troopers that he’d looked down momentarily as he drove and that when he looked up, the Camry was right in front of him. He said the heavy load he was hauling made it impossible to stop.

The cargo in Grimes’ trailer weighed about 44,000 pounds, according to KCWI in Des Moines.

Court documents obtained by KSTP indicate that Grimes told troopers he noticed the two lanes of traffic merging right and suspected that a driver had made an abrupt change, forcing the traffic in front of him to halt.

“I just didn’t have time to stop. I didn’t have time to react, and I couldn’t stop the truck,” Grimes told troopers, according to the station. “I hit him … but it was too late by that time.”

The truck driver said he could not recall if he’d hit his brakes before the crash. When troopers asked, Grimes denied using his phone but said his phone was downloading an episode of “Rust Valley Restorers” from Netflix that he planned to watch later.

Roadside cameras and Grimes’ own dashboard cameras told a different story, according to prosecutors.

A crash reconstructionist determined that Grimes passed five signs – two with flashing lights – in the 5 miles south of the crash site that warned of upcoming road construction. The signs warned drivers to slow down and to prepare for traffic to merge.

Video also showed that 10 seconds before the crash, traffic in both travel lanes had slowed or stopped. Dash cameras showed that no vehicles ahead of the truck made abrupt lane changes, the news release said.

Audio from the dashcams also showed investigators that Grimes was not downloading, but streaming his Netflix program at the time of the fatal collision.

Despite having ample time and space to see the slowed traffic and stop his truck, Grimes struck the Camry and the pickup at full speed.

“The reconstructionist found that despite warnings of slow or stopped traffic, Grimes continued toward the construction zone with his semi’s cruise control set between 66-67 mph,” the news release states. “The reconstructionist also found no evidence Grimes used his brakes before making impact with the victims’ vehicles.”

Grimes is due in court May 15, KSTP reported.

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