Semi driver gets one year in jail for fatal crash while scrolling Zillow app

LAKE ELMO, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Wisconsin semi-truck driver was sentenced Friday to one year in jail for his role in a deadly crash on Highway 36 in Lake Elmo, Minnesota last year. 

In April, Samuel Hicks, now 29, of Independence, Wisconsin, reached a plea deal with prosecuters in Washington County in the crash on Feb. 27, 2018 that claimed the life of Robert Bursik, 54. The judge accepted the plea, sentencing him to one year in county jail and 10 years of probation. 

Hicks will also be required to make a public service announcement with the Minnesota State Patrol about the dangers of distracted driving. 

Video cameras on board Hicks’ semi showed him looking down at his cell phone, scrolling through the real estate app Zillow for a full eight seconds before slamming into Bursik’s vehicle, which was stopped at a red light. The footage showed Hicks made no effort to break and he struck Bursik’s vehicle at 63 mph. 

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