A Tennessee trucker was charged with vehicular homicide after investigators determined he was watching Netflix before a fatal crash on a Minnesota Interstate last summer.
On August 25, 2023, Billy Joe Grimes alleged that a sudden lane change ahead of his truck caused him to crash into the rear of a Toyota killing an Iowa couple on Interstate 35.
Grimes, who had a five-year trucking experience and was driving with a 44,721-pound load, also struck a trailer pulled by a Chevrolet pickup truck but its driver wasn’t hurt.
“I just didn’t have time to stop, I didn’t have time to react, and I couldn’t stop the truck,” the 55-year-old trucker allegedly told troopers.
An investigation into the crash unveiled that Grimes ignored five signs a mile apart warning of road construction and ordering drivers to slow down and prepare for traffic merge.
The ignorance may have been caused by the fact that Grimes had been watching an episode of “Rust Valley Restorers” inside the cab of his truck while driving at 66-67 mph.
Authorities identified the victims as Iowa couple Matthew Hansen, 57, and Cimberly Ellen Hansen, 56.
