A drunken driver who killed two women and a dog in a Lyft vehicle when he blew through a red light in September 2025 will spend the next 24 years in prison, according to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Robb Louis Hintzsche was sentenced Sept. 15 after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of a dangerous felony for the Gilbert crash, a news release from the County Attorney's Office said.
Hintzsche, 36, slammed into the Lyft hard enough to send it spinning into a traffic pole, killing driver Nicole Snell and passenger Marisa Jorgenson, a 33-year-old mother of two. Snell's service dog, Bellini, was also killed.
The crash occurred just after 9 p.m. at Recker and Ray roads. Hintzsche was weaving through traffic at more
than 90 mph and made no attempt to slow down before hitting Snell's vehicle. The posted speed limit was 45 mph.
Moments earlier, he had clipped another vehicle, sending it into the bike lane, police said. The driver was not injured.
Hintzche was taken in critical condition to a hospital, where he later recovered, police said. Investigators determined he had a blood alcohol level of 0.287%, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08%.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a Sept. 15 statement that Hintzche made a deliberate decision. "His actions have left two children without their mother, and a family lost their daughter because of the defendant’s reckless actions.
“Nothing can make up for this unimaginable loss, but we hope the justice achieved in this case offers a measure of closure to these families and their community,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Drunken driver sentenced in Gilbert crash that killed 2 women in Lyft
