MINNEAPOLIS — An unlicensed driver has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for leading police on a chase that ended with the man plowing into a Minneapolis playground and injuring three young siblings.

Twenty-seven-year-old Kabaar Powell Jr., of Richfield, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty last month to two counts of fleeing an officer.

The children’s parents, Kyle and Nicolle Peltier, told Powell their lives will never be the same.

Kyle Peltier was at the playground with their seven children on the day of the June 11 crash. He says he “watched helplessly” as his children were run over.

The Star Tribune reports Powell declined to speak. He agreed to accept a longer sentence than usual.

The most seriously injured child, 2-year-old Kayden Peltier, left the hospital last week.