Share and Follow
Inset: A photo of Hussein Farhat is shown at a memorial for him in December 2024 (WBBM-TV/YouTube). Background: Christopher Sponholz appears in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, court in December 2024 (WISN/YouTube).
A man has confessed to causing the death of a tow truck driver on a bustling Wisconsin highway, admitting his role in the tragic incident.
On Thursday, 40-year-old Christopher Sponholz entered a guilty plea for a charge of hit-and-run resulting in death, as per Waukesha County court documents accessed by Law&Crime.
Sponholz was sentenced to seven years in prison, with credit for 421 days already served, followed by ten years of extended supervision.
The victim, Hussein Farhat, also 40, lost his life in a crash that took place on December 24, 2024.
That Christmas Eve, Farhat was in the process of loading a disabled vehicle onto his tow truck on Interstate 94 near Summit, Wisconsin, roughly 30 miles west of Milwaukee. A blue minivan, reportedly traveling at speeds over 80 mph, struck Farhat. Witnesses stated that the vehicle didn’t stop; it continued at high speed and exited at the next available ramp, according to a report from local Fox affiliate WITI.
Authorities responded to the scene and took Farhat to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead 12 hours later, Milwaukee-based ABC affiliate WISN reported.
Sponholz was reportedly identified as the driver of the minivan the following day when someone recognized the vehicle from the hit-and-run in the village of Wales, Wisconsin, about six miles east of Summit. He is said to have told a friend he hit a deer the night of the crash.
The defendant then turned himself in to police.
Sponholz was repentant during his Thursday court hearing, saying, “I want to apologize and let you know how truly sorry I am. I apologize to him daily. I know there is nothing I can do to bring him back, and it hurts so much.”
Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge William Domina remained critical of Sponholz”s actions.
“People deserve to be treated as human beings,” he said, per WISN. “Not as garbage. Not discarded. Not dumped, in a ditch, and pushed to the side like a dead deer.”
Farhat left behind a wife and three young children.
His death ignited calls for people to respect tow truck drivers and slow down as they approach them, with roughly 100 tow trucks joining a memorial for the victim, according to footage from Chicago-based CBS affiliate WBBM-TV.