'He should definitely have some jail time': Daughter of fatal hit and run victim outraged by probation sentence

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7. ROB: ALEXANDRA, THANKS. THIS MAN’S DAUGHTER IS OUTRAGED TONIGHT BECAUSE THE RETIRED POLICE OFFICER WHO HIT AND KILLED HER FATHER GETS PROBATION. JULIE: BOB CHRISTENSEN’S TRIAL WAS SUPPOSED TO START TODAY, BUT HE TOOK A PLEA DEAL IN POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY MONDAY. ROB: KETV NEWSWATCH 7’S SARAH FILI IS LIVE WITH A LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE AND THE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE VICTIM’S DAUGHTER. SARAH? SARAH: SHE SAYS SHE HAD NO WARNING THAT A PLEA DEAL WAS EVEN A POSSIBILITY, AND WITH ALL THE EVIDENCE AGAINST CHRISTENSEN, SHE CAN’T BELIEVE HE WON’T SERVE ANY TIME AT ALL. PHOTOS IN A MEMORY BOOK SH NICOLE SPRACKLIN SNUGGLED UP IN HER DAD’S LAP. NOW THAT’S ALL SHE HAS TO REMEMBER HIM >> HE IS MISSED EVERY DAY. SARAH: 55-YEAR-OLD WILLIAM SHEPARD WAS RIDING HIS BIKE OFF OLD LINCOLN HIGHWAY AROUND 2:00 IN THE MORNING, WHEN A HIT AND RUN DRIVER LEFT HIM FOR DEAD. A NEWSPAPER CARRIER NOTICED HIS BIKE JUST OFF THE ROAD. >> SHE NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A LIGHT ILLUMINATING OUT OF THE DITCH. SARAH: 5.5 HOURS LATER, 56-YEAR-OLD BOB CHRISTENSEN, A FORMER COUNCIL BLUFFS POLICE OFFICER, TURNED HIMSELF IN. HE TOLD DEPUTIES HE SAW THE CRASH ON THE NEWS AND THOUGHT HE MIGHT BE INVOLVED. >> HIS STORY WAS THAT HE BELIEVED THAT HE HAD HIT, WELL, THAT HE HAD RUN OVER SOME DEBRIS AND POSSIBLY HIT A DEER. SARAH: POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY PROSECUTORS CHARGED HIM WITH LEAVING THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT RESULTING IN DEATH, A FELONY. HIS TRIAL WAS SUPPOSED TO START THIS WEEK, BUT MONDAY, HE PLED GUILTY. PROSECUTORS SHOWS US THE EVIDENCE THEY PLANNED TO SHOW A JURY. THIS PICTURE HERE REPRESENTS THE DEFENDANT’S F-150 TRUCK THAT WAS DAMAGED, AND IT ALSO SHOWS US THE SECONDARY TRUCK THAT WAS USED. SARAH: BODY CAMERAS WORN BY DEPUTIES AT CHRISTENSEN’S HOUSE THE NEXT DAY SHOW HIS DAMAGED TRUC AND THAT SECONDARY TRUCK? A NEIGHBOR’S SECURITY CAMERA CAPTURED CHRISTENSEN LEAVING HIS HOME AN HOUR AFTER THE CRASH. VIDEO FROM A DEPUTY’S CRUISER THAT MORNING CAPTURED THAT SAME TRUCK, PASSING BY THE CRAS -- THAT SAME TRUCK PASSING BY THE CRASH AGAIN MINUTES LATER. WE HAVE AN INDVIDUAL THAT WENT BACK TO THE SCENE AND DIDN’T STOP, AND THERE’S REALLY NO REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR THAT. SARAH: IT’S THAT FACT THAT HAUNTS SHEPARD’S DAUGHTER. >> HE HITS MY DAD, GOES AND HIDES HIS TRUCK, DRIVES BACK IN ANOTHER TRUCK, AND BASICALLY LOOKS TO SEE IF MY DAD’S DEAD. SARAH: A JUDGE GAVE CHRISTENSEN TWO YEARS PROBATION. PROSECUTORS DECLINED TO COMMENT ON THE SENTENC SHEPARD’S DAUGHTER SAYS IT’S NOT JUSTICE. >> I DIDN’T EXPECT FOR HIM TO GO AWAY, LIKE, FOR LIFE FOR IT, BUT HE SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE SOME JAIL TIME. SARAH: PROSECUTORS TELL ME CHRISTENSEN SAYS HE DID NOT SEE SHEPARD OR THE LIGHTS ON THI BIKE, WHICH IS WHY HE THOUGHT HE’D HIT AN ANIMAL. THE MAXIMUM PENALTY WOULD HAVE BEEN FIVE YEARS IN PRI

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A retired Council Bluffs police officer pleaded guilty in the hit-and-run death of a cyclist. A judge immediately sentenced Bob Christensen to two years probation. William Shepard, 55, died after being struck by a vehicle on Old Lincoln Highway near Northline Drive around 2:10 a.m. May 11, 2019."He's missed every day,” said Nicole Spracklin, Shepard's daughter.According to an affidavit, a newspaper carrier reported finding a man unresponsive in the grass that had been riding a bicycle. She told prosecutors she could see the glow of the lights from his bicycle.Shepard was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.Five and a half hours later, Bob Christensen, 56, would turn himself in to Pottawattamie County deputies.Prosecutors said he told deputies he saw the crash on the news and thought he might be involved. He said he did not see lights or a bike."His story was that he believed that he had hit, well run over some debris and hit a deer,” Potawattamie County prosecutor Paul Forney Said.Prosecutors charged him with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, which is a felony.His trial was supposed to start Tuesday, but Monday, he plead guilty. Prosecutors released the evidence they planned to show a jury. “This picture here represents the defendants F-150 truck that was damaged, and it also shows us the secondary truck that was used,” Forney said.Body worn cameras on deputies at Christensen’s house the next day show his damaged truck. Prosecutors said lights on the ‘secondary truck’ matched to a pickup truck that Christensen used to go back by the scene.They said a neighbor's security camera captured Christensen leaving his home an hour after the crash. Video from a deputy's cruiser at the crash site captured that same truck passing by the crash minutes later."We have an individual that went back to the scene and didn't stop and there's really no reasonable explanation for that,” Forney said.It’s that fact that haunts Shepard’s daughter."He hits my dad, goes and hides his truck, drives back in another truck and basically looks to see if my dad's dead,” Spracklin said.Judge Richard Davidson gave Christensen two years’ probation.Prosecutors declined to comment on the sentence. Shepard's daughter said it's not justice. "I didn’t expect for him to go away for life for it, but he should definitely have some jail time,” Spracklin said.The maximum penalty according to prosecutors is five years in prison or a $7,500 fine.Prosecutors said they did not make any recommendations for sentencing.