{"id":51044,"date":"2026-09-13T09:17:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T14:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=51044"},"modified":"2026-09-10T05:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T10:36:21","slug":"pelican-rapids-jacob-thatcher-charged-in-fatal-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/pelican-rapids-jacob-thatcher-charged-in-fatal-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Pelican Rapids: Jacob Thatcher Charged in Fatal Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pelican Rapids: Jacob Thatcher Charged in Fatal Crash<\/h2>\n

Pelican Rapids, Otter Tail County (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 Jacob Lee Thatcher faces two charges following a fatal September 6 crash.<\/p>\n

Thatcher, 25, was listed in custody records on September 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

The most serious charge is felony criminal vehicular homicide.<\/p>\n

He also faces a misdemeanor careless driving charge.<\/p>\n

Fatal Highway 59 Crash<\/h2>\n

The crash happened at 4:50 p.m. on Highway 59 in Erhards Grove Township.<\/p>\n

The location was about five miles south of Pelican Rapids.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota State Patrol said Thatcher was driving a 2015 Volkswagen Passat southbound.<\/p>\n

Basro Hassan Abokar, 51, was driving a 2004 Buick Regal northbound.<\/p>\n

The two vehicles collided on Highway 59.<\/p>\n

Abokar, of Pelican Rapids, died from her injuries.<\/p>\n

\"JacobJacob Lee Thatcher booking photo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thatcher suffered injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.<\/p>\n

He was taken to a Fergus Falls hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n

The State Patrol listed the road as wet.<\/p>\n

The crash report also listed alcohol as suspected for Thatcher.<\/p>\n

Readers can view the Minnesota State Patrol crash report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vehicular Homicide Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

The felony count cites Minnesota Statute 609.2112, subdivision 1(a)(2)(i).<\/p>\n

The charge alleges negligent vehicle operation while under the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Minnesota law allows up to 10 years in prison after a conviction.<\/p>\n

The law also allows a fine of up to $20,000.<\/p>\n

Those are maximum penalties and do not represent a sentence for Thatcher.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota Statute 609.2112<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Careless Driving Charge<\/h2>\n

Thatcher also faces misdemeanor careless driving under Minnesota Statute 169.13.<\/p>\n

The law covers careless vehicle operation that endangers people or property.<\/p>\n

The booking information lists both charges as active.<\/p>\n

No police officer names are included in this report.<\/p>\n

The charges remain allegations.<\/p>\n

Thatcher is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

Charges can change as prosecutors review evidence and court proceedings continue.<\/p>\n

Public case information may be available through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jacob Lee Thatcher, 25, faces felony criminal vehicular homicide and careless driving charges after a fatal Otter Tail County crash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[16518],"tags":[24783,2375,7442,3290,11296,9666,24780,24781,16013,2548,24782,786],"class_list":["post-51044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recently-booked","tag-basro-hassan-abokar","tag-careless-driving","tag-criminal-vehicular-homicide","tag-fatal-crash","tag-fergus-falls-minnesota","tag-highway-59-crash","tag-jacob-lee-thatcher","tag-jacob-thatcher","tag-minnesota-dwi-crash","tag-otter-tail-county","tag-pelican-rapids-minnesota","tag-trf-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51046,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51044\/revisions\/51046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}