A truck driver accused of streaming Netflix while barreling toward stopped traffic on Interstate 35 has pleaded guilty to killing a married couple from Urbandale, Iowa, in a 2023 crash that investigators say could have been avoided. Billie Joe Grimes, 57, admitted to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation, according to court documents.
The crash happened Aug. 25, 2023, along northbound I-35 just south of Faribault, as reported by the Star Tribune. Matthew H. Hansen, 57, and Cimberly E. Hansen, 56, both of Urbandale, were killed when Grimes's semi plowed into their Toyota Camry. He then struck a pickup truck that was pulling a flat-bed trailer, according to the same report.
Investigators determined, per the criminal complaint, that Grimes was watching a Netflix show as he approached stopped or slow-moving traffic in a construction zone, the Star Tribune reported. Prosecutors said he drove past orange Department of Transportation signs warning of the slowdown before failing to brake at all. A State Patrol investigation found Grimes was traveling 68 mph at the moment of impact, per the outlet's reporting.
Twenty Minutes of Streaming Before Impact
According to southernminn.com, troopers concluded Grimes had been streaming the Netflix show for at least 20 minutes prior to and at the time of the crash. The crash was the third fatal wreck in that same I-35 construction zone the previous summer, the outlet noted, and it prompted state officials to install additional signs and rumble strips.
Grimes initially offered investigators a different explanation. He told police his phone was downloading an episode of “Rust Valley Restorers” from Netflix for later viewing and denied using the phone while driving. But troopers who reviewed his device found two shows downloaded on his phone, and the Star Tribune reported that neither was from “Rust Valley Restorers.”
Crash scene investigators also used dash cam video from inside Grimes's semi-truck to assess what happened in the moments before the collision, according to the criminal complaint. Grimes told troopers he had only a brief time to react and did not have time to stop or react, saying the truck could not stop because of the load's weight. He also said he could not remember whether he had applied the brakes before impact.
Case Moved From Trial to Guilty Plea
Prosecutors charged Grimes in April 2024 with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation, and said he was distracted and failed to apply the brakes before crashing into the Hansens' Toyota. Grimes initially pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial in 2025, less than a year before changing his plea, according to KARE 11.
He is now scheduled to be sentenced March 17, 2027, per the same report. Under Minnesota law, the cited criminal vehicular homicide statute allows for up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000, subject to the statute's exceptions. The cited criminal vehicular operation statute provides for up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for cases resulting in great bodily harm.
Distracted driving remains a persistent and deadly problem on American roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,208 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2024. The Hansens' deaths near Faribault add to that toll, leaving a Minnesota courtroom to determine what accountability looks like for a crash prosecutors say never should have happened.
