A woman who hit and killed a man on Pacific Highway South in Federal Way after shoplifting and then fleeing Dick’s Sporting Goods has received a 93-month prison sentence.
On Aug. 29, Hailey Bunkelman, 24, was sentenced to 93 months — a little under eight years — for vehicular homicide following a guilty plea. This charge stems from a March 1, 2023, incident where Bunkelman was allegedly driving away from Dick’s Sporting Goods in Federal Way after shoplifting, and in a stolen truck, on Pacific Highway South, just past South 304th Street, she struck and killed Robert L. Spafford, 54, and did not stop to check on him.
According to court documents, Bunkelman had an offender score of nine, putting her sentencing range for vehicular homicide between 87 months and 116 months. Prosecutors requested that she receive a 116-month sentence.
Bunkelman’s defense requested that she serve an 87-month sentence, citing her youthfulness at the time of the offense, her adverse childhood experience and her efforts to recover from substance abuse as mitigating factors. The defense also requested that Bunkelman receive credit toward her prison sentence for the 549 days she served in electronic home detention. The court granted the request.
At the sentencing, the owner of the stolen truck that Bunkelman is alleged to have hit Spafford with addressed the court. Sonny Gloria shared that he thinks about the incident that killed Spafford every day because it was his truck that killed him.
“He’s the only one that’s not going to get justice in this case right here, because he’s no longer around. And I just want to let you know that I’m really hurt by this incident that shouldn’t have ever occurred, especially with my truck,” Gloria said. “I just hope that the person gets what she deserves to be punished for this awful offense because it affected me, my family, my livelihood, because I worked out of that truck.”
Bunkelman gave a statement to the court, sharing that she regrets her action, and she acknowledged that she will have to live with having taken someone’s life for the rest of her life.
“It really affects me and my family. And I can’t imagine how it is affecting others. And for that I share my deepest regrets and sorries,” Bunkelman said. “And I just ask to take into consideration what I’ve done to change my life and what I’ve gone through these last few years.”
Details of the incident
At about 6:07 p.m. March 1, 2023, an officer responded to a fatal hit-and-run that occurred on Pacific Highway South. At the scene, Spafford was located and determined to be dead.
The responding officer found video footage of Spafford being struck, and retraced the vehicle to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Video footage showed two females entering the store, and Dick’s Sporting Goods’ loss prevention said that they were shoplifting.
Documents state that in the video footage, there was a white woman and a Black woman, and the white woman was the only one to go into the stolen truck, which soon after struck Spafford. Documents state that pictures of the women were shown on television to solicit tips, and someone reported that the white woman was Bunkelman. Documents state that Bunkelman fit the description of the woman who was driving the truck that struck Spafford, including the same tattoos and hair.
On May 13, 2023, Bunkelman was booked into jail on separate warrants, and there she was asked questions about the Dick’s Sporting Goods shoplifting that occurred on March 1, 2023. Documents state that Bunkelman began to ask if she was being questioned about a hit-and-run, but the officers did not mention a hit-and-run.
According to documents, Bunkelman said that she was driving her friend’s stolen car, and that she sold it immediately after leaving Dick’s Sporting Goods. Documents state that Bunkelman said she stopped at a parking lot on Pacific Highway to sell the car, but then drove to a pawn shop instead to sell it. Bunkelman said that she was running from police before she stopped at Harbor Freight Tools. According to documents, video footage never showed the truck stopping on Pacific Highway between when the truck left Dick’s Sporting Goods and when it hit Spafford.
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