Waukesha County hit-and-run; tow truck driver killed, man sentenced

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Christopher Sponholz

SUMMIT, Wis. - A Waukesha County man has been sentenced to prison for a 2024 hit-and-run that killed a tow truck driver.

In court:

Christopher Sponholz, 40, pleaded guilty on Thursday to hit-and-run involving death. A judge then sentenced him to seven years in prison, with credit for more than a year's time served, and 10 years of extended supervision.

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The backstory:

The crash happened in the village of Summit on Dec. 24, 2024. Court filings said a tow truck driver was loading a disabled vehicle on the I-94 eastbound shoulder near Sawyer Road when a blue minivan hit him and fled the scene.

The tow truck driver, later identified as 40-year-old Hussain Farhat, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Hussain Farhat (Credit: Abdallah Hekmat)

A witness told law enforcement officers that she saw Farhat on the ground and said the blue minivan never slowed down before it got off at the next exit. The witness estimated the minivan was going between 80 and 90 mph.

The next day, investigators received a tip that somebody spotted a minivan matching the description of the one involved in the hit-and-run at a home in the village of Wales.

Sponholz turned himself in to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department. A criminal complaint said he told a friend that he thought he'd hit a deer that night.