{"id":32439,"date":"2023-08-08T20:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/drunken-driver-in-fatal-crash-who-was-traveling-about-111-mph-sentenced-to-prison\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:57:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:57:44","slug":"drunken-driver-in-fatal-crash-who-was-traveling-about-111-mph-sentenced-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/drunken-driver-in-fatal-crash-who-was-traveling-about-111-mph-sentenced-to-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Drunken driver in fatal crash, who was traveling about 111 mph, sentenced to prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image naviga-align-left alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=98dcd689-4e85-5914-b809-725272b46580&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" alt=\"Jobe\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Jobe<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>A drunken driver who was traveling an estimated 111 mph in the pouring rain on a winding La Plata County road when he crashed his vehicle, killing a passenger and seriously injuring another, was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Justin Jobe, 35, hung his head when 6th Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson handed down a 12-year prison sentence for killing Logan Bratzler and two more years for injuring Isaac \u201cIke\u201d Raidl.<\/p>\n<p>He was facing up to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault, both felonies, in a plea agreement with the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p>The crash was reported about 12:40 a.m. July 31, 2022, on County Road 210, which accesses Lake Nighthorse southwest of Durango.<\/p>\n<p>Jobe and his friends, all from Colorado Springs, were celebrating a bachelor\u2019s party in downtown Durango. They were on their way to a rental house southwest of town when the crash occurred.<\/p>\n<p>Based on a computer system built into the 2016 Chevy Silverado, Jobe was traveling 111 mph with the \u201cpedal to the metal\u201d when he failed to negotiate a right-hand curve near mile marker four and went off the side of the road, according to prosecutors. He hit two trees, causing the vehicle to spin, before it came to rest on its passenger side.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"naviga-map\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?q=37.236033933851%2C-107.94015316816&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Map\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n<p>Raidl, the surviving passenger, said he pleaded for Jobe to slow down, but to no avail. He called Jobe\u2019s driving behavior a \u201cstunt, a way to show off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was not impressed, and I was scared,\u201d Raidl wrote in a victim-impact statement. \u201cSitting there completely helpless, my voice had no impact, faster and faster, approaching the inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026 At a certain point it crosses a threshold and the unexpected becomes expected,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAt an uncontrollable speed on that road, I expected us to crash, I could see it and I could feel it, and we did. Now, without reason, Logan is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jobe told law enforcement he consumed a couple of vodkas with Red Bull and a couple of beers. A blood-alcohol test done one hour after the crash revealed he had a 0.226 blood alcohol content, which is about three times the 0.08 driving limit in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Jobe, wearing shackles and a jail-issued jumpsuit, apologized to the court, the community and the families that were impacted.<\/p>\n<p>He said he considers everyone involved in the crash a close friend, and no punishment will be as hard as what he has put himself through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLogan was my very best friend,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 I am extremely sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several witnesses spoke on behalf of Bratzler, including his mother, sister, brother-in-law and a co-worker. Like Jobe, several people considered Bratzler to be their best friend.<\/p>\n<p>Bratzler enjoyed motocross and worked as an investigator for criminal defenders and prosecutors. He had just completed his wildland firefighter training, and had gone on two deployments. He hoped to one day combine his two areas of expertise and work as a fire investigator.<\/p>\n<p>He was described as somewhat of a prankster who could light up a room. He would add extra hot sauce to someone\u2019s burrito, put fake piles of dog feces around the office and wallpaper an office with hundreds of pictures of someone\u2019s antagonist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithout Logan, life simply is not the same for a lot of people,\u201d said Troy Zook, a co-worker. \u201cI\u2019m sure your honor has seen a lot of close-knit families, and his is right at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Riley Bratzler, Logan Bratzler\u2019s younger sister, said more than 400 people attended her brother\u2019s celebration of life. She recalled going to brunch with her mother, waiting for a table when her mother received a phone call saying Logan had died in a car crash.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTime stopped, I held my mom as her body gave in to the insurmountable grief and loss, I knew that there had to be a mistake, my brother couldn\u2019t possibly be gone,\u201d Riley Bratzler told the court. \u201cI cried and screamed in agony for my mom and then for me. I could have never imagined a world without him. This moment plays on repeat in my head, every single night when I try to fall asleep, hearing my mother scream out for her firstborn child.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"naviga-pdf-embed\"><iframe class=\"article-pdf\" src=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/4EilkJbEuHNrNKiyULbsBfkY3hM.pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:500px;border:1px solid #ddd\" loading=\"lazy\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/4EilkJbEuHNrNKiyULbsBfkY3hM.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Bratzler victim impact statement.pdf (Download PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p><\/iframe>\n<p class=\"naviga-pdf-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dur-prod-public-pdfs.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/4EilkJbEuHNrNKiyULbsBfkY3hM.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Bratzler victim impact statement.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>She visited the crash scene Monday and still saw car parts littered along the rural road. She touched the bark of the tree where the car had crashed, knowing that is where her brother took his last breath.<\/p>\n<p>She asked Judge Carlson to impose the maximum possible penalty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe defendant\u2019s actions were beyond reckless, careless and completely avoidable,\u201d she said. \u201cHis lack of concern for all passengers in the car is deafening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jobe\u2019s mother offered her \u201cdeepest sympathies\u201d to the Bratzler family, saying she also misses Logan.<\/p>\n<p>Jobe\u2019s sister called it a \u201cdevastating situation\u201d that has \u201crocked Justin to his core.\u201d She said her brother will carry pain in his heart for the rest of his life. He made a fatal mistake, but he has taken responsibility for it and is dealing with it. She asked for the minimum prison sentence, so that Jobe can again become a productive member of society.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors had charged Jobe with extreme indifference murder, a class 1 felony. Had he gone to trial and lost, he could have spent the rest of his life behind bars.<\/p>\n<p>Assistant District Attorney Sean Murray said the murder charge was justified. The two passengers were pleading for their lives as Jobe drove in excess of 100 mph in the pouring rain on a narrow county road in the middle of the night, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle\u2019s internal computer indicated he had the gas pedal floored at the time of the crash, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Murray rejected the idea that this crash can be compared to other vehicular homicides involving drunken driving in La Plata County, in which defendants have received significantly less prison time. He called it a murder case.<\/p>\n<p>Public defender Benjamin Currier said the plea agreement allowed for far more time than what is typically seen in DUI vehicular homicide cases.<\/p>\n<p>He asked Judge Carlson to take note of that, and to recognize Jobe\u2019s level of remorse, willingness to accept responsibility, lack of criminal history and strong potential for rehabilitation. He asked for the minimum prison sentence, which would have been eight years based on terms of the plea agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Defense attorneys also questioned whether the vehicle computer clocked an accurate speed, saying speed may have gone higher when the wheels left the road and became airborne.<\/p>\n<p>In handing down her sentence, Carlson called it an \u201cextremely serious case,\u201d one in which a message needs to be sent that if people drink and drive and put others at danger, the penalties are going to be severe, especially when there are aggravating circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to serving 14 years in prison, Jobe must pay $31,222 in restitution and will be on parole for three years. He will receive 245 days credit for time served.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-11399e5d2ba6a783bb4bed815072071f\"><a href=\"mailto:shane@durangoherald.com\">shane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jobe, 35, was speeding on county road southwest of Durango during bachelor party<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1078,133,168,480,28,867,254],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-32439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-6th-judicial-district","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-dui","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-courthouse","tag-road-crash"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81794,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32439\/revisions\/81794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32439"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=32439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}