COUNCIL BLUFFS (AP) — A former police officer has been given two years of probation for leaving the scene of a fatal accident with a bicyclist in western Iowa.
Pottawattamie County court records say Robert Christensen, 56, pleaded guilty Monday. The judge granted Christensen a deferred judgment. Under a deferred judgment, Christensen’s conviction could be removed from his record if he were to successfully complete the terms of his probation.
Christensen had retired from the Council Bluffs police force.
The May 11 accident occurred a little after 2 a.m. on the north end of Council Bluffs, authorities said. Deputies found bicyclist William Shepard, 55, in a roadside ditch, and he died later at a hospital.
Christensen contacted county communications a little after 7:30 a.m. and reported that he may have been the driver whose pickup truck struck Shepard.