Guilty Plea in High Profile Minnesota Distracted Driving Case

Lake Elmo, MN (KROC-AM News) - A truck driver from western Wisconsin has pleaded guilty to causing a deadly crash in a highly publicized Minnesota distracted driving case.

29-year-old Samuel Hicks today admitted to a criminal vehicular homicide charge just before his trial was about to begin in Washington County Court. The Independence man is scheduled to sentenced on July 19th.

Hicks was behind the wheel of a semi-truck that smashed into a vehicle that was stopped for a red light at an intersection on February 27th of last year. The investigation determined Hicks was looking at his cell phone for as long as 8 seconds while traveling at over 60 miles per hour when the crash occurred in the far eastern Twin Cities suburb of Lake Elmo, killing 54-year-old Robert Bursik of Amery, Wisconsin.

News update: Byron Man Convicted of Causing Fatal Crash