A 20-year-old driver who prosecutors say caused a 2022 wreck that killed five people, including three young children, has now admitted guilt in both that fatal crash and a later high-speed chase. Under the plea agreements, he is expected to serve about 30 years in prison. Families of the victims say no sentence can balance their loss as they prepare for a July 31 sentencing hearing. The deals wrap up two cases that were headed toward trial after the defendant was taken back into custody this spring while out on bond and under electronic monitoring.
According to ABC15, court filings identify the defendant as Bjorn Hartzell and say he accepted plea agreements in late June that together carry an anticipated 30-year term. Those records, ABC15 reports, state that police believed Hartzell was driving at more than 110 miles per hour when the November 2022 collision occurred and that a blood test detected THC. Prosecutors also told the judge Hartzell submitted more than 10 diluted drug tests while out of custody, leading the court to order him to surrender his driver’s license and to shift drug screening to focus specifically on THC.
The 2022 Crash That Left Five Dead
The collision happened on Nov. 20, 2022, near 107th Avenue and Deer Valley Road in Peoria, when investigators say a Jeep slammed into a van carrying Elizabeth Simpson, her fiancé Jace Hochstetler and three of Simpson’s children as they left a Friendsgiving gathering. Multiple local outlets reported that five people in Simpson’s vehicle were killed and one child survived, prompting vigils and memorials as relatives and neighbors tried to process the loss. Arizona's Family covered both the original crash and the later arrest of a teen suspect in 2023.
How the May Pursuit Unfolded
Police records and body-camera video obtained by ABC15 show that, while out on bond in the crash case, Hartzell was arrested again in May after allegedly leading officers on a motorcycle chase across the Valley. Booking paperwork cited by ABC15 accuses him of traveling "well over 100 mph," briefly stopping long enough to let a passenger off, then abandoning the motorcycle near Central Avenue and Buckeye Road. He is accused of running through backyards before officers used a pepperball device to take him into custody.
Supervision, Testing And What It Does And Does Not Show
The back-to-back cases have raised questions about how pretrial supervision and electronic monitoring actually work. Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 treats pretrial and probation supervision history, drug-testing records and related diagnostic information as confidential, which limits what agencies can release while a case is active. The Maricopa County Adult Probation Department and the Judicial Branch note that electronic monitoring can confirm a person’s location or detect tampering, but it is not live video surveillance and cannot physically stop someone from committing a new offense. Those limits, along with the confidentiality rules around supervision records, are set out in court guidance and policy, and Arizona Supreme Court Rule 123 explains the framework for those records.
Sentence Set For July 31
Under the plea deals, Hartzell is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31. Prosecutors and victims’ families told reporters they agreed to the resolution in part to avoid reliving the details of the crash in another trial, even as some family members said no punishment will ever feel like enough. Relatives who lost children in the wreck have described the coming hearing as deeply emotional, according to local coverage. KGUN9 and other outlets have followed family statements and court dates as the case moved toward its conclusion.
