Lorenzo handed 5 years probation for crash that severely injured Austin teen – Austin Daily Herald

Jeffer Lorenzo, the man convicted in the DWI crash that severely injured Austin teen Wyatt Hamlin has finally been sentenced nearly two and a half years after the incident.

Convicted in April of 2024, Lorenzo was sentenced to five years supervised probation by Judge Kevin Siefken Thursday afternoon in Mower County District Court. 

He has a wide range of conditions he must follow as well as a $1,000 fine as well as $5,417.96 in restitution. He was also sentenced to a staggered sentence that will have him serve 45 days in jail over the course of the next five years starting this year. A violation of these terms of the sentence could result in 18 months in prison.

The sentence comes nine months after a warrant was issued for his arrest for not showing up to his original sentencing date in June of 2024.

Lorenzo initially agreed to plead guilty to felony criminal vehicular operation-great bodily harm while under the influence of alcohol, but then later fled the state before the sentence could officially be handed down.

Months went by before Lorenzo was arrested on Dec. 15 by the Cleveland Police Department in Cleveland, Tennessee, where he was facing domestic assault and prohibited weapons charges.

A hold was placed on Lorenzo at the time and a month later he was back in the Mower County Jail where he has been held ever since.

He was also in court Thursday for a separate charge of felony failure to appear on a felony charge, of which he pleaded guilty to.

The crash that injured Hamlin took place on July 28, 2023, when Austin police were dispatched to the intersection of Second Avenue and Fourth Street SW at around 8:47 p.m. Several injuries were reported to occupants in two separate vehicles, one of which Hamlin was driving.

During the investigation, it had been determined that the SUV driven by Lorenzo had been traveling east on Second Avenue SW at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the intersection of Fourth Street SW where it collided with Hamlin’s vehicle. The SUV was pushed an estimated 200 feet into a backyard.

Witnesses at the scene told police that passengers in the Lorenzo-driven vehicle fled the scene. An officer eventually apprehended Lorenzo laying down next to a house in the area. He admitted to being the driver of the gray SUV and according to the court complaint later told police at the hospital that he had been traveling approximately 50 mph and stated that he had “12 Budweiser” prior to the crash. 

 A preliminary test indicated a .20 blood alcohol content.

A passenger in the gray SUV, was discovered lying on the boulevard, appearing to be in pain and struggling to talk, but reportedly said “Jeffer” when asked who was driving the vehicle. He was also taken to Mayo Clinic.  

A third passenger from the gray SUV was later found passed out due to being intoxicated and unconscious. Police were later able to talk with the third passenger, who told them that they had been drinking since that afternoon, though he didn’t remember anything from the crash. 

In total, Lorenzo had been charged with seven counts related to the crash, six of which were dropped when he initially agreed to plead guilty to the criminal vehicular operation charge.