Danny Tiner Arizona trucker watching TikTok videos while driving sentenced to 22.5 years jail in crash he caused that killed 5 along Interstate 10.
A preventable tragedy … A truck driver in Arizona has been sentenced to 22-and-a-half years prison for killing five people while watching TikTok videos while driving.
Danny Glen Tiner, 38, began his sentence on Friday, Aug. 16, after being convicted on five counts of negligent homicide, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) confirmed in a news release posted on Aug. 19.
The errant truck driver received 4.5 years in jail for each victim killed in the crash he caused according to shared documents.
On Jan. 12, 2023, Tiner caused a six-vehicle collision while driving a semi-truck eastbound on Interstate 10 near Wildhorse Pass Boulevard in Chandler.
He was arrested at his home on June 29, 2023, after a lengthy investigation found him responsible, AZ Central reported.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) said that Tiner had said he received a message on his electronic work tablet and went to look at it. When he looked back up, traffic had come to a halt but he was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision.
Tiner was booked into jail on $300K bond and faced initial charges including five counts of manslaughter, four counts of endangerment, and one count of tampering with evidence, Arizona’s Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) said in a news release.
He pleaded guilty to five counts of negligent homicide in June 2024. An incident management log shared by AZDPS confirmed the victims were Ryan Gooding, Andrew Standifird, Jerardo Vazquez, Willis Thompson, and Gilberto Franco.
‘GPS data showed Tiner’s truck was driving 68-mph in a 55-mph construction zone. After failing to yield to stopped traffic, the defendant caused a six-vehicle collision. Some of the vehicles, including two semi-trucks, caught on fire. Five people died at the scene of the crash,’ MCAO stated in the release.
‘Digital forensic data showed Tiner accessed at least four separate TikTok videos while driving and within seconds of the collision,’ the release added.
‘As a driver, you have an obligation to pay attention to the road. To choose to access social media while driving, placing the lives of others on the line, is reckless,’ Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell stated.
‘Five families are living through the pain of losing a loved one. While the justice system can never relieve that pain, it can hold the person responsible accountable. We achieved that goal,’ Mitchell added.
Per AZDPS’s release, ‘Troopers initially suspected driver distraction as a possible factor in the collision.’
‘This marks the first case in AZDPS history in which a driver has been convicted of causing a fatal collision while distracted by a social media application,’ AZDPS added.
‘Troopers and our law enforcement partners worked tirelessly to ensure a thorough investigation for the victims and their families,’ AZDPS Sergeant Smith said, per the release.
‘This tragedy was entirely preventable. Don’t risk lives — put your phone away and give driving your full attention,’ Smith added.
