Four days shy of a year ago, a teenager from Superior and another teenager lost their lives when a drunk driver blew his vehicle through a stop sign and collided with the vehicle they were riding in. Monday that drunk driver was sentenced to spend nearly 4 decades in a Nebraska prison.

The accident happened on the outskirts of Hastings in the early morning hours of Dec. 12, 2021. A black 1997 Dodge Ram pickup driven by Kaden Atz, 18, was traveling eastbound on 12th Street when a north bound 2015 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee failed to stop at the Blaine Street intersection. The accident report indicates the Jeep shoved the pickup into the northeast ditch where it landed on its passenger side. The truck caught fire with Victoria Fleming, 16, of Superior, and Tristen Owens, 18, of Hastings, trapped inside.

Atz and Corbin Lewelly had been on the driver’s side of the vehicle. While injured, they were able to escape the vehicle but were unable to free the two girls.

Witnesses tried to put out the blaze with a fire extinquisher but the truck was fully engulfed by the time help arrived.

This week Anthony Pingel, 33, also a Hastings resident, has been sentenced to serve 18 to 20 years for each of the two manslaughter charges. The two sentences are to be served consecutively.

Morgan Farguhar, Adams County district court judge, also sentenced Pingel to serve a consecutive two years in prison for two charges of third-degree assault with 60 additional days, a $500 fine and six-month driver’s license suspension for diving under the influence of alcohol.

Despite Pingel’s lack of prior criminal history, Farquhar said Pingel’s binge drinking demonstrates a dangerous pattern of behavior.

The Hastings Tribune reported the judge said, “Categorizing you as anything but a ticking time bomb over the last 10 years would be categorically false. This pattern of drinking yourself out of reality has caused this horrific tragedy.”