FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA — A truck driver accused of watching Netflix before slamming into slow-moving traffic in a construction zone on Interstate 35 has changed his plea to guilty in the August 2023 crash that killed two people.
Billie Joe Grimes, 57, pleaded guilty on Monday, October 26, to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation. He had originally pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial nearly a year ago. With the guilty plea, no trial will be held. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 17, 2027.
Grimes was driving on I-35 south of Faribault when he crashed into a line of slow-moving traffic near a construction zone. The two people killed were inside one of the two cars hit.
What Investigators Found
Grimes told officers he had been downloading an episode of “Rust Valley Restorers” from Netflix at the time of the crash. He said the episode was for later and denied using his phone in the moments before the crash. He told troopers he had “just a split second, a couple seconds” to react to the stopped cars. “I just didn’t have time to stop, I didn’t have time to react and I couldn’t stop the truck,” he said, citing his heavy load. He also said he could not remember whether he applied the brakes before impact.
Investigators used a driver-facing dashcam, which showed Grimes “watching a Netflix show as he approached stopped or slow-moving traffic as he approached a construction zone.” He was traveling 68 mph at the time of the collision. Investigators determined he “was distracted to the extent that he failed to apply the brakes before he crashed into the Toyota and killed” the couple inside. Prosecutors say he passed multiple orange DOT signs warning of possible slow-moving traffic in the construction zone.
All defendants are presumed innocent until sentenced in a court of law.
Information courtesy of local media.
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