Rapid City, SD : Multi-vehicle crash in Rapid City on April, Thursday 20th 2017

The man who caused a multivehicle crash that injured several people in Rapid City last year was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday.

Andrew Chipps, 25, of Wanblee, received the maximum sentence for one count of vehicular battery, a charge that he had pleaded guilty to in 7th Circuit Court.

Judge Craig Pfeifle also ordered Chipps to pay $149,000 in restitution toward four victims in the crash. The incident occurred at the intersection of Anamosa and Lacrosse streets around 3 p.m.

Dressed in a red-striped uniform for segregated Pennington County Jail inmates, Chipps told one of the crash victims Thursday that he was a changed man.

“I’m sorry,” Chipps said, turning to face Donato Nuno in the gallery. “I’m not the same man. I know you had some injuries, and I’m very sorry for that.”

According to Rapid City police reports, Chipps was fleeing a Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 90 when he ran a red light at the Anamosa and Lacrosse intersection. He hit an SUV, and the impact created a chain-reaction crash involving three other vehicles. At least five people injured in the crash were immediately taken to the hospital.

Among them was Nuno, a man in his late-40s who suffered a brain injury after his vehicle rolled over, his lawyer told the court. Nuno has not been able to work since and asked for a $119,000 restitution, which the judge granted.

Three of the people injured were Chipps’ passengers, including two of his relatives.

Chipps had been driving highly intoxicated, with a suspended license and had fled from the crash site, said Deputy State’s Attorney Koln Fink. He registered a blood alcohol content of .247, more than three times the .08 threshold for drunken driving.

Chipps claimed to have “blacked out” during certain points in the incident, the prosecutor said, leading to his no-contest plea to authorities’ report of the crash.

As punishment for the victims’ financial, physical, mental and emotional suffering, as well as to deter Chipps from similar conduct, Fink asked for the 10-year maximum prison sentence.

Defense lawyer Matthew Skinner asked for less than the maximum.

Source :
Man gets 10 years for multi-vehicle crash in Rapid City