Lance Harvey Haugen, a 35-year-old from Glendive, Montana, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of serious injury by motor vehicle stemming from a fiery 2024 crash near Larchwood, Iowa that left six people hurt, one of them airlifted to a Sioux Falls hospital.
Haugen pleaded guilty on July 7 and was sentenced on August 24 in Lyon County District Court in Rock Rapids, Iowa, according to the Lyon County Reporter. Each of the four serious-injury charges carried a five-year incarceration term, but Judge Carl Petersen ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Haugen will serve five years total rather than twenty, per KTIV. Other offenses against him, including charges tied to marijuana possession and operating while under the influence, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement, the station reported.
Haugen had initially pleaded not guilty before later changing his plea. Beyond the prison term, he was ordered to pay $1,025 in fines and a $153.75 surcharge on each of the four charges, totaling $4,715, along with $10,180 in court-related costs and $12,432.06 in victim restitution to four individuals, bringing his overall financial obligation to $27,327.06. Haugen is serving his sentence at the Clarinda Correctional Facility.
How the Crash Unfolded
The crash happened around 7 p.m. on September 26, 2024. Reports differ on the exact distance from Larchwood: the seed reporting places it roughly three miles west of town, while KTIV describes it as four miles west, at the intersection of Beech Avenue and 140th Street, or A18.
Haugen was driving north on Beech Avenue when he failed to stop at the stop sign at 140th Street, according to The N'West Iowa REVIEW. His 2012 Ford Raptor pickup struck the passenger side of an eastbound 2021 Chevrolet Traverse driven by 74-year-old Marvin Dale Winkel of George, Iowa. The collision sent both vehicles into the northeast ditch. Haugen's pickup rolled and came to rest on its passenger side, while Winkel's vehicle caught fire on a field driveway.
Off-Duty Officer Pulled Victims From the Wreckage
Six people were in the two vehicles at the time of the crash. Ismael Small, an off-duty police officer from Lennox, South Dakota, happened upon the scene and pulled four occupants out of the burning Chevrolet and another person out of the overturned pickup, the outlet's earlier coverage noted.
One crash victim was airlifted by Avera CareFlight to Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Accounts differ on how the remaining five were taken for treatment: the publisher's original crash report says they were transported by Larchwood Emergency Medical Services and Lyon County Ambulance to Avera McKennan Hospital and Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, while KELOLAND reported that one person was airlifted and five were transported by ground ambulance to Sioux Falls hospitals.
Impairment and Charges
The Lyon County Attorney's Office reported that Haugen was impaired by THC consumption and intoxication at the time of the crash. He had been charged with four counts of serious injury by motor vehicle while operating intoxicated, a class D felony, along with first-offense operating while under the influence, a serious misdemeanor, first-offense possession of marijuana, and citations for speeding and failing to obey a stop sign and yield right of way.
