BARTON COUNTY —District Court Judge Carey Hipp sentenced 31-year-old Lafe Patrick Kern to just over 4-years in the Kansas Department of Corrections after he plead no contest to three counts of aggravated battery in connection with a head-on crash in 2015, according to the Barton County Attorney's office.
KBI testing confirmed the presence of several drugs including Alprazolam in Kern's blood at the time of the two-vehicle head-on collision on U.S. 281 highway, south of Great Bend.
Five people including two children were injured in the crash
A 2005 Ford Explorer driven by then 26-year-old Kern of St. John was southbound on U.S. 281 just south of Great Bend, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir. The Ford crossed left of center and struck a northbound a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe driven by 29-year-old Heather Cash of Pratt.
There were three other passengers in the Cash vehicle. Candace Lampe, age 52, of Pratt and Cash’s two children ages 3 years and 8 ½ months.
All three of the adult front seat passengers in both vehicles had to be extracted with the jaws of life, according to Bellendir.
EMS transported the adults to Great Bend Regional Hospital and then they were flown by Eagle Med Helicopters to Wichita.
Both children were properly restrained in child restraint devices and had only minor injuries.
In addition to the prison time, the Court ordered Kern to repay over $20,000 in restitution.