6-Month Sentence In Fiery Drunken Driving Crash

ST. CLOUD (AP) - A drunk driver who caused a crash that left a man with severe burns over most of his body has been sentenced in Stearns County to six months in jail.

Twenty-one-year-old Mason Frederick Larson pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular operation for crashing into the back of Jeffery Hinkemeyer's Ford Pinto in May 2009 in St. Joseph Township.

Hinkemeyer suffered third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body when the vehicle burst into flames after flipping over in a ditch.

Stearns County District Court Judge Mary Mahler on Monday denied Larson's request for work release privileges.