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Southwestern Indiana man sentenced for crash that killed 3

Posted November 08, 2017 6:00 am

The Associated Press

BLOOMFIELD, Ind. (AP) - A judge has sentenced a southwestern Indiana man to 15 years for causing a crash that killed three family members returning from a band competition.

Greene Superior Court Judge Dena Martin sentenced 20-year-old Mason Hartke of Jasper on Wednesday to five years on each of three counts of operating a vehicle causing death while intoxicated. She suspended 1ˆ½ years of each sentence.

The Nov. 13, 2016, crash along Interstate 69 in Greene County killed 17-year-old Sophie Rinehart, 46-year-old David Rinehart and 74-year-old Ruth Rinehart. The crash occurred after David Rinehart, of Newburgh, pulled off to a shoulder after hitting a deer.

Sophie Rinehart had performed with the Castle High School marching band the previous day in Indianapolis.

Hartke told state police he believed he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

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