‘New record’: Man who posted photo of speedometer at 150 mph to Snapchat moments before causing fatal crash learns his fate

A 24-year-old man in Minnesota will spend several years behind bars for causing a fatal car crash just moments after he posted an image to social media showing that he was driving 150 mph, which he said was a “new record.”

Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Kristi Stanislawski on Monday ordered Hunter M. Buckentine to serve just under 10 years — 116 months — in a state correctional facility for causing the death of 34-year-old Jordan Kramer, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Under Minnesota law, Buckentine will likely serve two-thirds of the sentence in prison and the final third on supervised release.

The sentence was handed down after Buckentine pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide while operating a motor vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and one count of criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm

According to a probable cause affidavit, a state trooper at about 1:11 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2023, was driving on U.S. Highway 10 in Sherburne County when they saw Buckentine’s black Infiniti driving in the opposite direction going 132 mph in a 60 mph zone. The trooper attempted to catch up to Buckentine, but the vehicle “kept pulling away until he was barely able to see it.” The trooper was going 116 mph when Buckentine pulled completely out of sight.

A short while later, the trooper came across the scene of a severe accident where he was flagged down by a female in the road who said she was driving a Chevy Cobalt with two passengers when they were struck from behind and the passengers were thrown from the vehicle. The Cobalt was in a ditch and “severely damaged in all places” with an adult male — later identified as Kramer — laying motionless nearby.

“[The driver] was driving and going the speed limit. [Kramer] was in the front passenger seat and [a female passenger] was sitting behind [Kramer],” the affidavit states. “[The driver] stated the other vehicle came up on her so fast, she saw the lights flash behind her and she did not have any time to react. All she saw was the headlights behind her and the next thing that happened was impact. She stated the Infiniti hit the back end of her vehicle, which spun it around and she thought they rolled in the ditch, but did not know how many times. [The driver] estimated the other vehicle’s speed to be at 150 miles per hour.

Buckentine’s Infiniti was about 200 yards from the other car and began to catch fire. Authorities said there was no indication that he attempted to brake before hitting the other vehicle.

An adult male, who had been Buckentine’s passenger, was located near the scene of the crash. He said he and Buckentine had gone to a bar hours earlier, and Buckentine had at least two shots before they left at around 1 a.m., at which point Buckentine seemed able to drive.

At some point while driving from the bar, the passenger said Buckentine “sped up to 150 mph, took his phone out and took a SnapChat picture of his speed.” The passenger said that when he looked up again, he saw taillights “approximately a foot in front of them” before crashing.

Following the crash, the passenger said Buckentine “began running away and making suicidal comments.” While running, Buckentine began taking off his clothes and ran into a corn field,

The following afternoon, Buckentine called state troopers saying he’d woken up on a baseball field wearing someone else’s clothing. He later admitted to being the owner of the Infiniti involved in the crash, but said he didn’t remember anything about a crash. He also claimed that the fastest he had ever driven his car was 145 mph while at the Brainerd International Raceway.

“The defendant identified his SnapChat name for law enforcement. [The passenger] provided law enforcement a copy of the Snap Chat sent by the defendant just prior to the crash,” the affidavit states. “The SnapChat shows a speedometer with a reading of 150 miles per hour with a text stating ‘new record.””

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