Driver Sentenced After Boulder From Truck Killed 2 In Rosemount

ROSEMOUNT, MN — A Hastings man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 months in jail in connection with a crash involving a massive boulder that fell off his truck and killed two women in 2018, authorities said.

Joseph Paul Czeck, 34, also faces up to 10 years of probation as part of the sentence delivered by Judge Arlene Perkkio, according to a news release by Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.

The July 9, 2018, crash took the lives of 67-year-old Karen Christiansen and 32-year-old Jena Christiansen, both of Shoreview.

An 1,100-pound boulder fell off the back of the commercial truck Czeck was driving in Rosemount and struck a vehicle driven by Karen Christiansen, police said. The driver of the truck left the scene and did not return, police said.

Czeck pleaded guilty Dec. 5, 2019, to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide (causes collision and leaves the scene). As part of his sentence, Czeck was also ordered to pay restitution.

He was taken into custody Tuesday to begin his jail sentence, according to the news release.

Rosemount police said the incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. at Rich Valley Boulevard and 125th Street. Responding officers determined that a Toyota Avalon had been hit by a boulder that became dislodged from a landscape truck. The driver and passenger in the Toyota suffered significant trauma and died at the scene, police said.

After extensive investigation, Rosemount detectives were able to identify Czeck Services as the company that owned the commercial vehicle involved in the crash.

Investigators also determined that Czeck was driving vehicle near the time and location of the incident. Czeck was arrested in Inver Grove Heights on July 11, 2018, and charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

"We are pleased to have brought this man to justice for this easily preventable crime on our roads, which tragically claimed two lives in our community," Backstrom said in the news release.

Backstrom extended his sympathies to the family and friends of Karen and Jena Christiansen.