Judge spares prison for Minnesota man who crashed ATV while drunk, killing passenger

A judge granted leniency and imposed jail time for a man who was drunk when he crashed a side-by-side utility vehicle into a ditch in southwestern Minnesota during a late-night ride and killed one of his three passengers.

Calvin Francis Loosbrock, 37, of Lismore, Minn., was sentenced Monday in Nobles County District Court after he pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the wreck of the utility terrain vehicle early on Oct. 5, 2024, that killed 43-year-old Sara Mara Pittman of Fairmont, Minn.

Judge Sherry Haley departed from state guidelines and set aside a four-year term for Loosbrock. Instead, Haley sentenced him to a year in jail and 10 years’ probation. Terms of his probation require that he abstain from alcohol and illicit drugs and submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

Haley explained that she spared Loosbrock prison time because he showed remorse, assured his compliance with probationary terms and is agreeable to chemical dependency treatment.

According to the charges and a related court filing:

Sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical responders arrived about 12:25 a.m. at the scene north of Lismore. A deputy saw Loosbrock stagger into the road; he rolled down his squad car window and detected a strong odor of alcohol from Loosbrock. The deputy reported seeing several empty and open beer cans nearby.

The deputy saw emergency rescue personnel lifting the vehicle off a man and Pittman, while another uninjured passenger stood nearby. The man was conscious, but Pittman was unresponsive. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital in nearby Luverne and pronounced dead about 1:45 a.m.

One of the passengers told a deputy that Loosbrock swerved the side-by-side into a ditch and ignored pleas from Pittman and another passenger to slow down. Loosbrock then made a hard turn left at a corner and back to the right, sending it tipping over into the ditch.

Before the crash, Loosbrock drank a few beers at home and drove the side-by-side to the Linsmore Bar & Grill for dinner and more drinks.

Loosbrock “admitted he drank approximately 10-12 beers that evening,” one court filing read.

Pittman was born and raised in Fairmont, according to her obituary, and joined the Minnesota National Guard while in high school. She served in the Guard until her honorable discharge in April 2005.