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00:00Holy s**t, I don't want to look. I don't want to look.
00:04I'm mingled.
00:06I'm a lot. I'm a lot. I'm a lot. I'm a lot.
00:11Oh, damn.
00:14I hit somebody.
00:17I know. I actually was a fan.
00:20Yeah, um...
00:21He reminded me of you so much.
00:23When I get out of here, I'm going to start a YouTube.
00:26I think the first video I should make is about this.
00:30On January 31st, 2025, a white van smashes into a car stopped at a red light,
00:36leaving the beloved YouTuber known as Desert Drifter in critical condition.
00:40But what first appears to be a tragic accident unravels under scrutiny
00:45as disturbing evidence pulls the case in a shocking new direction.
00:51It's almost like it sped up before it even got to him. There was no... You'll see.
00:57The following is based on official police records, and the footage has never been seen before until now.
01:04Just after 10 p.m., dispatchers in Grand Junction, Colorado are alerted to a severe crash involving two vehicles at
01:10a four-way intersection.
01:12911, this is Chennai. I want the address of your emergency.
01:15Hey, um, I'm on the corner of North and First, and there was a crazy accident.
01:21Okay, were you involved?
01:22We need an ambulance here.
01:24Yeah, we're getting a lot of calls. Were you involved?
01:27No, I was not involved. I'm just...
01:29I don't want to look. I don't want to look.
01:32Okay.
01:34Nearly a dozen calls flood in, including one from two witnesses who saw the incident unfold.
01:40The guy was driving sporadically. We could see... He ran a red light before, and he was hauling butt down
01:46the road, and...
01:48Oh, my God, baby. We got to...
01:49Okay, gotcha.
01:49We got to stop.
01:50And you said it was a van or whatever kind of vehicle?
01:53I can't tell what it is. It's like a utility van. That's the one that ran the red light.
01:58And smacked into this other vehicle?
01:59Man, I can't tell what the other car is, but it's nasty.
02:02Maybe...
02:02Like a sedan or some kind?
02:04Something like that, yeah.
02:06Officers arrive to find the white van with smoke pouring from its damaged engine.
02:11A second vehicle lies overturned against the building, its frame crushed so badly it's nearly unrecognizable.
02:18Yes.
02:20Everybody is trapped in the car.
02:22I'm going to keep talking to you until they get here, okay?
02:25Hello.
02:26There they are. See? He's here, okay?
02:29He's conscious. He's, like, responding.
02:31Is there anybody else in there with you?
02:35There's somebody very, very heavy damage in this car that's upside down.
02:39One person trapped inside.
02:58Can you hear me in there?
03:03Hello? Can you hear me?
03:07Is there anybody else stuck in that one, too?
03:09Yeah, there's a guy. There's a guy that came out.
03:11Okay.
03:11There's just a few flames from him.
03:13You try to talk to him and get him woke up.
03:15I'll go check on that guy.
03:17Hello.
03:19Are you okay? He's breathing.
03:20He's breathing?
03:21He's breathing, but he is unresponsive.
03:23Okay, is there anybody else in there?
03:25Are you by yourself?
03:27This is him.
03:28Hey, are you okay?
03:32I know you're just unparalleled.
03:34You're okay.
03:35You're okay.
03:36You're going to be okay.
03:36Sweet.
03:37Can you...
03:38We're going to need at least two amulets.
03:41He's not responsive.
03:42Will you guys try and go on the other side?
03:45Yeah.
03:50He's not going to be able to get that open.
03:54He's breathing.
03:55He is breathing?
03:56He's breathing.
03:56He's unconscious.
03:59He's buckled.
03:59We're going to have fire in him out.
04:02They're going to have the tools again.
04:03He's on the passenger side.
04:06As you wait?
04:07He's breathing.
04:08He's not conscious.
04:10He's buckled in there.
04:11Drop his tools!
04:13The driver of the overturned car is later identified as 36-year-old Andrew Martin Cross,
04:19the YouTuber known as Desert Drifter.
04:21While a rescue team prepares to cut him free, an officer up the road tries to keep the other
04:26driver calm.
04:28Good.
04:30All right.
04:30Good.
04:31There you go.
04:32Yep.
04:33All right.
04:34Just...
04:34Yep.
04:35Amulets is here.
04:36Fire truck's going to try to get you out, okay?
04:39Whoa.
04:40Okay.
04:40You're doing good.
04:41Just keep awake, all right?
04:43Bro, I'm a human.
04:45What's that?
04:46I'm a human.
04:47Yeah, you're doing good.
04:48I know, dude.
04:50You're doing good, okay?
04:52Wow.
04:54Bro, I'm a human.
04:57I'm trying to get in at home.
04:59The driver of the van is identified as 37-year-old Ragnar Nicholas Nick Crystal, a U.S. Army veteran.
05:07The front end of his van is completely crushed, and the dash and steering wheel has effectively
05:12pinned him to the driver's seat.
05:14Firefighters utilize a spreader, a powerful hydraulic tool, to lift the dash and free him
05:20from the wreckage.
05:21Guys.
05:22Get up.
05:24All right.
05:24There we go.
05:25Yeah.
05:27Up and over.
05:28Ready?
05:28One, two, three.
05:29Oh, you got it up.
05:30The wreck behind you.
05:31Stretching, right behind you.
05:32Other way.
05:33Oh, God.
05:34Ah.
05:35There we go, Nick.
05:37All right.
05:37There we go.
05:38That.
05:38There we go.
05:39See color and get lines ready.
05:41Meanwhile, backup officers arrive and attempt to collect statements from witnesses.
05:45Hi, hi.
05:47Did you see what happened?
05:48I was just heading westbound, and I saw, like, maybe a little bit of it, but not enough
05:58to give a testimony.
05:59Beside the officer, a bystander records distressing footage of the crash site on his cell phone,
06:05which later surfaces on YouTube.
06:07I don't know where I need to help me.
06:10I don't want to stop and pull me down.
06:13Did you guys see what happened?
06:15No, we were, same as him.
06:17Okay.
06:18And we don't want to stay in this criminal justice.
06:20Okay.
06:23Ma'am, did you see what happened?
06:24I didn't.
06:25I was sitting at Stinker.
06:26I saw the explosion, but I didn't actually see exactly what happened.
06:30Okay.
06:30I was just, I'm an Uber driver.
06:32I was waiting for a call, and so I rushed over and called 911 and tried to do a little
06:36assessment for an operator.
06:39I really couldn't tell you what happened.
06:41I mean, it's, yeah.
06:42That car is mingled down.
06:45Once Nick and Andrew are both freed, they're transported by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital
06:50in critical condition.
06:51For first responders who remain at the scene, it's difficult to imagine how both drivers
06:56survived such a violent wreck.
07:01I guess he was wearing a seatbelt.
07:03Yeah.
07:04I think he smacked his head right on that windshield.
07:06You got this, Doc?
07:08Oh, I'm sure he smacked him to a lot of stuff.
07:13I can't believe that man in the van was talking.
07:15What would it say to him?
07:17We weren't chasing him for anything.
07:19We were told that he was running from the top.
07:22This guy was running from the top.
07:23He came through the inside and told him it's up and down.
07:25No.
07:26No?
07:27No.
07:27That's what we were told.
07:29We were like, where'd this come from?
07:30Who told you that?
07:31I don't know.
07:31Yeah, I know.
07:32It was passed on to one of our guys and then they passed it on.
07:35Yeah.
07:36Rumor mill.
07:38That's how that stuff starts.
07:39Yeah, exactly.
07:40Rumors aside, officers are still a long way from understanding the truth of what happened
07:45here tonight.
07:46An officer arrives at the hospital and attempts to question Nick, the driver of the van,
07:51but this proves challenging.
07:54Hey, Nick.
07:55Hey.
07:56I'm Officer Keys.
08:01Please release my body.
08:05Can you tell me what happened?
08:07Hold on, maybe not.
08:07Don't grab there.
08:09Uh, why is it my fault?
08:12I didn't say anything.
08:14I just asked you what happened.
08:18These crazy people want control.
08:22Okay.
08:22Can you tell me what your name is?
08:26Can I have my body back?
08:29Though his words make little sense, it's still too soon to determine whether that's due to
08:33injury or something else entirely.
08:36Back at the scene, officers gather statements from more witnesses, but even with their combined
08:41accounts, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what happened.
08:45This car was facing eastbound on north at the red light.
08:50White car blows the red, smashes into this one, crashes like, drags this thing, pushes
08:59it, and I'm thinking it trips.
09:01Right there at that curb.
09:04That right there hits that, spins, or flops over, and that guy continues, and he could
09:12see, I'm assuming, the tire's either on its rim or was trying to brake because these big
09:21old gouge marks.
09:22Nearly two hours after the crash, Andrew's wife, Evelyn, arrives at the scene.
09:27She would later explain that Andrew was on his way home from backpacking and filming for
09:31his YouTube channel at Bears Ears National Monument.
09:34When he never made it back, she tracked his phone to the intersection.
09:38Andrew was just four minutes from home.
09:40At the hospital, an officer answers what few questions she can from Evelyn as she relays
09:46the information to Andrew's family over the phone.
09:49Do you know how fast the person is going?
09:51A little over the speed limit.
09:52A little over the speed limit, so probably.
09:54The speed limit's like 30 there.
09:57Yeah.
09:59Is there any other information you can share with me?
10:01No.
10:02That's all that the officers can share.
10:05It was not his fault.
10:05It was not his fault.
10:07It was all that they can confirm, which just pisses me off.
10:09According to public updates posted by the family, Andrew underwent surgery at the hospital
10:14to control bleeding in his brain, and his condition stabilized.
10:18Traffic cameras captured the moment his Subaru Outback came to a complete stop at the red light.
10:24Seven seconds later, the white cargo van plowed into the back of his vehicle,
10:28sending it barreling through the intersection.
10:31Andrew's father later made a guess at how fast the van was really traveling
10:35through the 35-mile-per-hour zone.
10:38Am I out of the ballpark if I suspect that he was hit from the rear
10:43and had something approaching 80 miles an hour?
10:45Yes, you'd be right on.
10:46However, these angles failed to capture the van in the crucial seconds before impact.
10:51Later, surveillance videos from nearby businesses,
10:54combined with recovered crash data, would paint a far clearer picture.
10:58We can just hope right now and hope the miracle happens and Andrew survives this.
11:05By February 6th, one week after the crash, Andrew's family shares an update.
11:09Though he has no spinal damage, a CT scan shows increased bleeding
11:13and several small strokes on the left side of his brain.
11:17He's kept under sedation to give his brain time to rest.
11:21Meanwhile, Nick has recovered enough to answer questions from investigators.
11:24Do you have a broken pelvis or something somebody was saying or something?
11:28Yeah, they had to cut open my stomach like C-section
11:32and they had to cut down my leg just to get up my hip bone
11:36to jam it back into the socket.
11:40Is that a bone down there?
11:43I got stitches like Jack from that Christmas movie.
11:49Oh, wow.
11:51So what's the last memory you have, like I said, before the crash?
11:54My gas pedal, the mat that's underneath it, I guess got stuck on it.
12:01I bent down to pick it off of it.
12:03And the next thing I know, I'm like, bam!
12:05And all my stuff is flying around.
12:08I'm in extreme pain.
12:10And I did it for a freaking rug, dude.
12:13And I don't remember anything after crashing into them.
12:17Is that they were just stopped at a red light.
12:20Oh, my God.
12:21So, yeah.
12:25How old were they?
12:27What?
12:28I can't answer that, but close to you, sir.
12:35Also, f***ing mad.
12:39Yeah, it's a very sad situation for everybody involved.
12:43According to police records, technicians noted during the van's inspection that the accelerator pedal had been snapped off.
12:50After reviewing crime scene photos, the mat also appeared to be partially bent up on both sides after the wreck.
12:57While it is possible the mat became stuck,
12:59observations made by medical staff after Nick arrived at the hospital point to a more concerning possibility.
13:05Any drugs, alcohol, or any other distractions at night, sir?
13:11No.
13:12So, since I don't have a phone, and my leg was visibly out of my skin,
13:19I didn't know how to cope and wait.
13:22So, I drank, like, a bunch of shots just sitting in my vehicle just to try to mitigate with something
13:30I'm still struggling with right now.
13:32Okay.
13:32So, are you talking after the crash?
13:35After, yeah.
13:36Oh, after the crash, you start drinking a bunch of shots?
13:41Yes.
13:41Oh, yeah.
13:42Okay.
13:43All right.
13:44But nothing before?
13:46No.
13:48The pain was so freaking intense that it's like,
13:52and I knew I didn't have a way to call you guys because I don't have a phone.
13:56Right.
13:56And so, I was trying to do everything I can to be like, help me, help me, come on, somebody
14:02call the cops, please help me,
14:04and drink because how much pain I was in.
14:09Okay.
14:09During the van's inspection, a white trash bag was found containing numerous small bottles of alcoholic beverage containers that were
14:16either empty or nearly empty.
14:18The bag itself contained a dark brown liquid substance that smelled, quote, foul, such as vomit.
14:25Investigators would return to this subject later after obtaining his hospital records.
14:31For now, investigators continue gathering evidence while monitoring Andrew's condition.
14:36On February 18th, his father shares that he's been taken off sedation and is breathing with minimal ventilator support.
14:43This is where we are.
14:45We'll keep you posted.
14:46No, please, please keep me 100% posted.
14:48Yeah.
14:49I can't imagine.
14:50Like I said, I don't have a lot of words for your family right now.
14:58But I've been looking at my own son, honestly, you know, a lot different.
15:02He's 16, going to be 17 soon, you know.
15:05And every time he leaves the house now or anything driving, like, your family is, you know, on my mind.
15:12And I just, I'm sorry.
15:15Yeah, I appreciate it.
15:16You're on the work.
15:18Andrew is still in the ICU on February 21st when Nick is finally discharged from a VA hospital.
15:24He's promptly intercepted by police officers and arrested on a vehicular assault warrant.
15:29Before heading to jail, he's brought in for an interview.
15:32How are you doing, man?
15:34With all things considered, I think they're trying to keep me in a hospital to treat me as, like, a
15:39psychosis or, like, making something into something that it's not.
15:42Oh, really?
15:43So I just wanted to come get you guys a case to me with it.
15:45Okay.
15:47Sure, I get that.
15:49And so, as far as your injuries, it sounds like you can kind of walk now and stuff like that?
15:53I can't put weight on it, but I've gotten pretty good at hopping.
15:57Oh, okay.
15:57So I'm just trying to get better.
16:01I'm glad you're doing okay and that you're going to heal up, brother.
16:04No, I appreciate it.
16:04The thing that bugged me the most was that guy's not quite a plegic and he's alive.
16:09Sure.
16:10Nick shares with the investigators that before crashing the van, he'd been living in it and was traveling toward the
16:16West Coast.
16:16As of recently, I lost both my cats and I was just trying to go to the Native American ruins
16:23just to, like, keep my mind distracted.
16:25But that's been something that I really need is, like, a career or a job you're going to, like, a
16:32purpose in life.
16:33Interestingly, many of the videos on the Desert Drifter YouTube channel feature Andrew visiting ancient ruins and prehistoric sites.
16:41According to a video posted by his wife, Evelyn, exploring these landscapes left Andrew with a, quote, sense of peace
16:48and purpose.
16:50I came back to a country that said 9-11 was a scam and, you know, it's like we were
16:55murderers and all kind of stuff.
16:56So it was really hard to get help and meet anybody knowing that I was a veteran, especially in, like,
17:01super liberal states.
17:02Okay.
17:04They were more, had a lot more animosity.
17:07So I was just trying to drive around until I found a state that accepted a veteran just trying to
17:14get back on his feet.
17:15Claiming he has little memory of the crash, Nick listens as the officer walks him through what they saw on
17:20the traffic cameras.
17:21When it hit, right, you guys went across the intersection, you shoved the other vehicle, goes,
17:27Yeah, no, I'm sorry.
17:29No, you're fine.
17:29No, take your time.
17:30No, it's fine.
17:31And so it shoves into that light pole on the southeast corner there.
17:36And then from there, your van continues eastbound along the sidewalk, comes to rest in an upright position,
17:42and the other vehicle overturned, unfortunately, from there.
17:45Okay.
17:46He then returns to a familiar story, one that quickly falls apart under scrutiny.
17:51It was like being in a dream.
17:54Nothing seemed real.
17:56Like, I was in complete shock.
17:59All I could feel was pain radiating all through my body.
18:04I didn't know what to do.
18:07I keep emergency shots in my, in my, I have, like, emergency kit with, like, Band-Aid and stuff.
18:13Okay.
18:13So I keep shooters in there, and I just remember drinking them and throwing them out the window.
18:18As imaginative as his explanation might be, it's in direct conflict with witness statements and what's clearly observed in body
18:26cam footage.
18:27He's breathing.
18:27He's breathing?
18:28He's breathing, but he is unresponsive.
18:31Did you ever see him eat or drink anything while you were, while they were in front of you?
18:36No.
18:36For the majority of the time, he was unconscious.
18:39I don't know how to explain it.
18:40It was like, I wasn't me.
18:42This isn't real.
18:43This isn't happening.
18:44And I think it was like a dream.
18:46And so doing the shooters was like me trying to connect back to reality, almost.
18:54I don't know how to explain that.
18:55Hospital records would later reveal that Nick had a blood ethanol level of .201 when his blood was drawn at
19:02the hospital at 1.45 a.m., nearly four hours after the crash.
19:07Detectable amounts of fentanyl and THC were also found in his bloodstream.
19:12Investigators also shared something with Andrew's father that has disturbing implications.
19:17We have a ready report.
19:19Do you know what that is?
19:20No.
19:21Report every drunk driver immediately.
19:23We have that from hours prior to the crash out near the Palisade area with that van.
19:33But that was quite a few hours prior, but it had already reported that they were possibly, you know, under
19:40the influence at that point.
19:42Have you ever gotten a DUI before or anything like that?
19:4511 years ago.
19:47Oh, 11 years.
19:47Oh, quite a while ago.
19:49According to police records, Nick was arrested in February of 2014 and charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, and reckless endangerment.
19:58He was sentenced to three years of probation.
20:01However, the potential consequences this time could be far more severe given Andrew's condition.
20:07The guy hits not a quadriplegic and he's not dead.
20:10I have no idea what his status is going to end up being.
20:13I mean, he's still at the hospital, right?
20:15And he's still not doing very well at all.
20:17But I don't know what his end result will be.
20:22He's not alert.
20:23He's not awake.
20:23And so I spoke to his father.
20:27I've spoken to his wife a few times.
20:32And so we're just trying to put it all back together what actually happened that night.
20:37The only thing, like I said, that I know for sure, based off of the video, is that he was
20:41just stopped at a red light when you hit the back of his vehicle.
20:44Hot.
20:56Even if this incident changes the course of Nick's life for the better, Andrew's father would likely disagree that it
21:03was worth the cost of what happened to his son.
21:05How are you doing?
21:08I can't imagine.
21:12It's not.
21:13It's messed up.
21:16It should not have happened.
21:17No, it should never have happened.
21:19It's not an explainable real requirement.
21:22And it's not in any way.
21:24Like, so there's, you know, I've dealt with a lot of crime in my 19 years.
21:29There's sometimes where people are victims, right?
21:33And then there's victims.
21:35Right?
21:35Yeah.
21:36And this is one where it's just 100%.
21:38He is a victim.
21:40Everybody.
21:41So is there anything you want me to tell the family?
21:44Or that you would say that I would gladly give my life because I don't have one for that person
21:51just to wake up and have one?
21:53Okay.
21:54All right.
21:55Following Nick's interview, he's booked into the Mesa County Jail.
21:58But the case is far from over.
22:00Crash data, additional surveillance footage, and Nick's own private confessions will soon cast the incident in a much darker light.
22:09For now, Nick reaches out to his estranged mother who's all too familiar with the victim, Andrew Cross.
22:15Hello, Nick.
22:17Oh, my God.
22:19Oh, my God.
22:20Oh, my God.
22:21I am so glad.
22:24I'm so glad you're alive.
22:26I hit somebody.
22:28I know.
22:29I asked him as a fan.
22:33Yeah.
22:34He reminded me of you so much.
22:37Eric and I used to watch his videos.
22:39In fact, we were going to go and take trips to some of the places he'd been just to get
22:45out and do something.
22:47Andrew's YouTube channel, described as exploration and adventure with a historical twist, mainly focuses on solo hiking treks in both
22:55well-known and remote areas, often highlighting historical sites and artifacts.
23:00While collecting Andrew's belongings from the totaled car, his father shared further details about his son.
23:06He was a history major, undergrad at Virginia Tech.
23:10He started this channel on a whim because he had an interest in the, you know, we refer to them,
23:16the ancient peoples that populated the lands to our west and south here.
23:20So he started, you know, putting his videos up.
23:23And in less than a year, he had over 400,000 subscribers.
23:27To date, his YouTube videos have amassed over 97 million views.
23:31You know, I've been doing this stuff for years and never would have imagined that other people would be interested
23:37in coming along.
23:39Three weeks after the crash, updates show that Andrew has begun to respond to pain, which his wife Evelyn writes
23:46is a positive step in the right direction.
23:49Meanwhile, Nick continues speaking to his mom from jail, describing his van life adventures.
23:54Um, I was going long-term camping.
23:59Mom, I saw the most beautiful things, uh, in nature, uh, that really, so, like, you know, Jesus in the
24:10Bible, he's, like, the embodiment of, like, feminine and masculine.
24:13I think that's why he has, like, a big heart.
24:16Um, and in the military, they only teach you how to be masculine, you know, how, like, feelings are poison
24:24and, like, you know, you know, talking about your feelings as something gay or whatever.
24:30But, like, when I was camping, I saw the entire Milky Way and I was crying for the first time
24:39in my life.
24:40On February 22nd, Andrew's sister shares that he's developed pneumonia, but continues breathing on his own with little support.
24:48They also begin reading him comments left by his fans, who pray relentlessly for his recovery.
24:53In a video call recorded from jail between Nick and his sister, they discuss what Andrew's condition means for his
25:00case.
25:01Yeah, so, I guess Andrew's gonna make it out of this, which is good.
25:05Yeah?
25:05Which is, like, kind of a godson, dude, if, if I'm really being honest with it.
25:10Given the type of family he comes from, I don't think they're gonna try to, like, really mess you up,
25:15man, you know?
25:17Well, it would be able to do, like, God, dude, I'm, like, I'm, like, I, like, I, yeah, I, I'm
25:22pretty emotional about that, dude.
25:23God's, like, had your back on this, like, you have to see God, like, God crashed you both, like, but
25:28God's kind of, like, coming out on this one.
25:32No, I don't want that to be on my conscience and, like, I think all of this happened for a
25:37reason.
25:37On February 28th, Andrew's sister Jenna provides another update on her brother's condition.
25:42Writing, his responses to neuro exams haven't changed, if anything, they've become less noticeable.
25:48The statistics about Andrew's likelihood to have a moderate recovery or even regain consciousness are discouraging.
25:55And it seems like the more info we get, the bleaker the picture.
25:59As officers visit with Nick at the jail, he requests an update.
26:03Is, uh, Andrew still alive?
26:05Uh, he still is, but, uh, I don't know that it's looking very good.
26:10So, I do know he's in, uh, extremely bad shape, but, you know, his family's there praying for him and
26:18stuff, and, uh, but, I don't know, man.
26:23Uh, just to be perfectly honest, I don't, uh.
26:26And I don't want to hear that.
26:28If he makes it even, I'm still going to put it, like, make it YouTube about that thing.
26:33Yeah.
26:33Or something.
26:34Do something.
26:35To us to prevent people, because it's like, I can't even sleep, I can't even.
26:39And, you know, I think, and, you know, I do know folks that go around and, like, speak at different,
26:45like, maybe at me.
26:46I would like to do a lot of still in and see how the kids seem to get shackled back
26:50up.
26:51Yeah.
26:51Because it really would teach a lesson, like, grow a mind choking.
26:55Yeah.
26:55As Andrew's condition declines and Nick remains behind bars, investigators continue analyzing the evidence.
27:02In the week following the crash, officers met with the nearby businesses, gathering two new angles of the crash.
27:08The first offers a wider view of the street, and the audio captures the moment of impact with disturbing clarity.
27:15That's what he's got.
27:18Holy damn.
27:23The footage reveals that once the van struck Andrew's car, it carried it down the street until it collided with
27:29a light pole, causing it to roll over as it landed against the building.
27:33Another nearby business caught a similar angle, but one disturbing detail stands out.
27:38And then, it's crazy, man, from way, far away.
27:43Oh, and that.
27:44It's almost like it sped up before it even got to him.
27:48There was no...
27:49You'll see.
27:50In video footage recorded on an officer's phone, the van can be seen gaining intense speeds before smashing into Andrew's
27:58car at the stoplight.
27:59According to crash data, Nick was traveling at 80 miles per hour, five seconds before impact.
28:05In the final tenth of a second, his speed climbed to 82, indicating he accelerated just before the collision.
28:13After learning the exact speeds at which his son was struck, Andrew's father shared a calculation with the investigating officer.
28:20The weight of that van, I estimated to be 10,000, his to be 4,000.
28:24Speed of travel, I don't know, 82 miles an hour, his car being stationary.
28:31And Google's AI, you know, our social intelligence module, spit out the calculation, because they laid it all out in
28:38six steps.
28:39The bottom line is that he suffered an impact of over 87 G's of force.
28:47The report also notes that a stuck floor mat would not explain this acceleration, and that a reasonable driver would
28:53have applied the brakes.
28:55Despite all the data, nothing could explain what compelled Nick to speed up before striking Andrew's car.
29:01I've been through some tough stuff, dude.
29:04And I didn't have a means to react, because I have insecurity issues.
29:09And PTSD, this kind of s**t.
29:12And so, like, I don't know if my subconscious took over that night as, like, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,
29:17but, like, I don't remember.
29:20F**k anything.
29:20I'm a gentleman.
29:22Yeah, yeah, I'm tired of even hearing that, because of who was targeting me.
29:27No, it's fine, I did hilarious.
29:29While it's unclear exactly who Nick believes was targeting him, he spoke further on the topic with his mother.
29:35There's some YouTuber, like, bragging to the internet, saying she was hacking my phone.
29:40You know, it's like, it was a pretty traumatic seven years, ever since meeting Ross.
29:48And instead of doing hard drugs and becoming a criminal, I did everything I could to keep my sanity.
29:56And what happened with Andrew was a complete mistake.
30:00I never intended that to happen, you know?
30:03Dude, I was on the phone with the government, and I was, like, accurately pointing out their emotions on a
30:11phone as they felt them, even reading their minds.
30:14And I, dude, I became such a controversy that there's thousands of people on the internet that were calling me
30:20the beast from the Bible, dude.
30:22And while discussing the crash with his mother, a crucial detail in Nick's story suddenly changes.
30:27I had edibles for, you know, like, PTSD or whatever to go to sleep at night, and I hadn't drank
30:35in a year.
30:36That wasn't me drinking on my own because I'm sad.
30:39There was somebody that came up to my van that offered me, like, they had a big bottle of Jägermeister,
30:46and that's the last thing I remember, and then I remember waking up in the hospital.
30:51Just lost and alone, Mom.
30:53Okay.
30:56Okay.
30:57And so, like, when somebody offered me a drink, I took it because it was another human being who, you
31:06know, like, I'm alone, I'm by myself,
31:08like, offered a good thing to me, or so I thought, and I kind of forgot my problems with alcohol,
31:14you know?
31:17Yep, I do.
31:18I do.
31:19But now I get it.
31:21In a cruel twist of irony, Andrew's father shared that his son once worked with a group that provides support
31:27for struggling adults,
31:28including those who are suffering from PTSD.
31:31They're, uh, in Utah, uh, nearby, then they're, uh, an outdoor, you know, registered or whatever you have to be
31:38credited outdoor therapy program for people with primarily drug addictions they're trying to kick,
31:44but also some alcohol.
31:45I have a lot of people in my life that love me, but I didn't love myself, and I couldn't
31:52forgive myself for everything I didn't want to talk about.
31:57And it kind of ended up like this.
32:01Okay.
32:03And you guys are right.
32:04You're right about everything.
32:07I didn't know how to open up to you guys.
32:10I didn't know how to talk to you.
32:11And it was better to drown my problems in probably every bottle I ever drank, alone, by myself, with no
32:23friends.
32:25But I think this kind of needed to happen because the last time we ever talked was when I got
32:30my first CWI.
32:32Yeah.
32:33And I think it's ironic.
32:34Like, the only thing that I want is for that guy that I've hit to f***ing make it through.
32:41As he continues sharing with his sister, Nick reveals the plans for his own future.
32:46There were so many thousands of people demanding that I got a gift, and they couldn't figure out where it
32:55came from, whether it was a brain injury or, like, somebody's looking over me.
33:01And I think all this needed to happen.
33:04And, like, I have an idea of what I want to do when I get out, like, maybe to make
33:12a YouTube.
33:13But I wanted to make tents and sell them because I kind of got into sewing.
33:17But, like, just to travel with that message, too, you know.
33:21Like, just have, like, you know, free coffee and be like, hey, if you don't buy anything, I've been lonely
33:25for a long time, and I admit it, you know.
33:28And it would be good to just have coffee with somebody.
33:30But if you want to buy my stuff, that's cool, too.
33:32You're a multifaceted person.
33:34I can't see you saying to one, Nick, like, Gemini.
33:36Well, then help me make it and then be a part of the channel.
33:40You know what I'm saying?
33:41Like, why not?
33:43That'd be really cool.
33:44And I think the first video I should make is, like, about this.
33:48But while Nick dreams of a future in the spotlight, Andrew continues to decline.
33:54On March 2nd, one month following the crash, Andrew's sister announces the family's difficult decision to remove him from life
34:01support, following multiple strokes affecting important parts of his brain.
34:05She writes, we know that a life dependent on machines is not what Andrew wants.
34:12It had to be exactly this way.
34:14It had to be a guy that you would have f***ing loved.
34:16You know, like, if it had just been some schmuck, like, maybe this wouldn't have hit so heavy.
34:20But, like, he's a dude, man.
34:23Dude, I was in court, and, like, when they didn't know if he was going to make it or not,
34:28and they said, like, his wife, like, we left her voicemails and we might need to push this.
34:34I'm, like, trying not to go there, but, like, we might need to push this to a manslaughter.
34:40I've f***ing cried all through court, dude.
34:43On March 4th, 2025, 36-year-old Andrew Martin Cross passed away in the company of his wife, family, and
34:52friends.
34:53Before his death, Andrew's best friend and dad tirelessly dug through the wreckage of Andrew's car to find his camera,
35:00in the hopes of salvaging his footage.
35:04He's got a camera that's on a pole that he does a lot of things with.
35:09Yeah.
35:10Wait a minute here.
35:12That's huge.
35:13He uses that one.
35:14Yeah, he uses that one.
35:15Do you know what it looks like?
35:16Yeah, it looks like your body cam.
35:20On a stick?
35:21On a stick.
35:22Yeah.
35:23Well, the interesting thing is we found in that van earlier, and I wonder if, when they were scooping things,
35:28if they threw it in there.
35:29Probably.
35:30Oh, yeah.
35:30So, wait, just a minute.
35:31Let me go over there.
35:32Let me see.
35:34They're missing a 3D camera, and they're describing it as that one that we saw here, John.
35:41That 3D one?
35:46I think I got it, John.
35:52Wow.
35:53Yeah.
35:53Is that his?
35:54That's awesome.
35:55Yeah, that's his.
35:56Wow.
35:58That's great.
35:59Thanks, guys.
35:59Yeah.
36:00Miraculously, the equipment was still functioning enough to download the footage.
36:04Evelyn uploaded the final adventure of her husband to his YouTube channel in October of 2025.
36:12Nothing but shenanigans, my friends.
36:14I'm glad you were with me.
36:16I could feel your presence.
36:17As Nick faces upgraded charges in the wake of Andrew's death, he recalls a near-death experience in which he
36:23was given an unexpected warning.
36:25Like, I was at peace, but, like, grandma was trying to explain to me, like, you can't leave a debt
36:32unfulfilled, especially when you take somebody's life.
36:35Once I pay the price for my crime, which is Andrew, in a court of law, I don't owe any,
36:43I'm not a sinner.
36:44I didn't, you know, it's like, when you do crimes against people and you run away from it, that's when
36:50you're a sinner.
36:51That's when you're a liar.
36:52That's when you're a manipulator.
36:53But if you get punished here on Earth, then it's settled.
36:58On October 8th, 2025, Ragnar Nicholas Kristol pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while driving under the influence as part of
37:06a plea agreement.
37:07In December of 2025, he was sentenced to 10 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, followed by three years
37:14of parole.
37:15If you'd like to see select new videos early and help us keep uncovering case files that rarely come to
37:21light, you'll find extra footage and unseen details on our Patreon.
37:25Channel memberships here on YouTube also include early access to select new videos.
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