Truck Driver Pleads Guilty In Fatal Distracted Driving Crash

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Truck driver Samuel Hicks pleaded guilty Monday to criminal vehicular homicide for his role in a fatal crash last year.

Robert Bursick, 54, of Wisconsin, died in the February 2018 crash. Authorities say Hicks admitted that he had been texting when he struck Bursick's vehicle on Highway 36 at Lake Elmo Avenue.

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According to the criminal complaint, Hicks also said he was using the Zillow app on his phone at the time of the crash.

Hicks was charged with one felony count of criminal vehicular homicide. Sentencing is scheduled for July 19.

Bursick was a professor at North Hennepin Community College and owned Dragonfly Gardens Nursery.