Estherville man sentenced in fatal drunk driving crash

An Estherville man who was driving drunk and crashed his car, killing one of his passengers, is sentenced to 20 years in prison. Eighteen-year-old Juan Alcala was sentenced in Palo Alto County District Court to a 10-year term for reckless homicide by vehicle and five-years each on a pair of serious injury by vehicle charges. Alcala must also pay nearly 450-thousand dollars in restitution. The charges stem from a fatal car crash near Cylinder on July 15th, 2002 that claimed the life of Brent Weir of Estherville. Injuries suffered by Alcala’s other passengers, Tyler Friesner and Jason Spoo, led to the serious injury by vehicle charges. Alcala was 17 at the time of the crash, but turned 18 by the time the autopsy results were returned.