A time of healing: Woman sentenced after crash that injured Idaho State Police trooper

In a tender moment after last week’s sentencing of the motorist who critically injured an Idaho State Police trooper last fall on Interstate 84, there was a time for forgiveness.

Sgt. Mike Wendler and his wife, Amy, hugged motorist Emina Hukic, who was responsible for the vehicle crash last Sept. 8 that turned the Wendlers’ world upside down.

“It was cathartic for us to let go of the hurt and bitterness,” Amy Wendler wrote in a message to the Times-News. “Although Mike has a long way to go in the healing process, not forgiving her won’t help him heal faster.”

During the hugs, the Wendlers encouraged Hukic to make better decisions.

Sentenced on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and driving without privileges, Hukic, 22, will spend three days on Jerome County’s work detail, picking up trash along roadways or performing other such tasks. She also will have one year of supervised probation. Her sentence, part of a plea deal, included 180 days of jail time, but that was mostly suspended, with 10 days discretionary.

Amy Wendler said she felt the sentence to be pretty light, because these weren’t the first legal problems for Hukic, who was driving despite having her license suspended as a result of a DUI charge.

“There is nothing we can do to change the outcome but look for the blessings that could come out of it,” Amy Wendler wrote on a GoFundMe page that is raising money to help with her husband’s medical expenses.

She said she believes the law should be changed to include consequences for injuring someone while driving while distracted.

“Since it is not, we had to work with what we could,” she said.

Hukic has indicated that she’s willing to go in front of the Idaho Legislature and ask for stricter penalties for distracted driving, Amy Wendler said.

Jerome city attorney BJ Hess said Hukic was distraught over the suffering she caused.

“It’s been a tough thing for both parties,” Hess said.

A police report said Hukic was driving her 2012 Hyundai Sonata the morning of Sept. 8 to Twin Falls via I-84 to get to her job at a bank. Beforehand, a train was blocking traffic, prompting her to take Exit 165 instead of Exit 168, which she normally uses.

She texted her boss that she’d be late for work.

Hukic told investigators that she saw emergency lights when she was just west of the 168 overpass. Witnesses said Hukic was initially in the left-hand lane but braked and veered into the right-hand lane, where Wendler was using hand motions directing motorists.

The impact of Hukic’s vehicle threw Wendler an estimated 15 feet into the air and backward 30 feet, next to a Jerome City Fire Department truck. Firefighters rendered first aid and Wendler was airlifted to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls.

Hukic eventually admitted to police that she snapped a photo of the police lights prior to the crash, reports say, and deleted it after the crash because she didn’t want anyone to think that she intentionally struck the ISP trooper.

She initially told police that she looked down to look at a notification on her phone, and when she looked up, she had to take evasive action to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of her.

Mike Wendler suffered a traumatic brain injury in the crash, and although his family said his progress has been miraculous, he is not yet fully recovered.

“We have a long road of healing still,” his wife said. “Such a long road, but that doesn’t mean she (Hukic) has to continue to suffer with us. She can help us.”