State Patrol: Crash into slowed traffic preceded fatal collision with worker on I-94
The Minnesota State Patrol says criminal charges are likely in a crash on Interstate 94 that killed a construction worker in Rogers on Tuesday.
Patrol spokesperson Tiffani Nielson said the crash happened about 2 p.m. when a truck rear-ended a pickup truck as traffic was slowed near County Road 81. The crash threw a pickup and trailer toward a nearby construction crew that was performing soil borings through the pavement ahead of construction work scheduled for next fall. The man running the drilling machine, Vernon Hedquist, 59, of Pillager, was killed. Nielson says he may not have even seen the crash happen.
"They're focused on what they're doing. And maybe he caught a glimpse, but things happened so fast. There were other witnesses out there that heard screeching tires, screams and they responded to help. And...he was severely injured," Nielson said.
Another worker, Thomas Wood, was injured by flying debris. The drivers involved in the crash, including the 47-year-old St. Paul Park truck driver, were not injured.
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Nielson said that it wasn't clear if the crash involved mobile phone use or any other distraction. She said investigators were looking into what was going on in the cab of the truck, as well as the condition and equipment on the commercial vehicles involved.
Nielson said it was a reminder of the stakes for people driving through road work zones, in close proximity to construction workers.
"We're basically driving through their office every day and we need to pay attention, put all the distractions away," Nielson said. "Obviously, this was a terrible situation for anybody to go through, but these crashes are preventable if drivers do drive safely through construction zones."
MnDOT said Hedquist was working on a crew with WSB & Associates, a design and consulting firm based in Golden Valley. The firm was doing preparation work ahead of construction on I-94 scheduled to start next year. MnDOT said a crew had set up a work zone to protect the drillers. The State Patrol said there were crash trucks ahead of the actual work area and signs that said the right lane of the freeway, where the work was being done, was closed.
MnDOT says that 35 agency employees and 16 contractors have been killed in work zone crashes in Minnesota since 1960.
Correction (Oct. 3, 2018): Initial reports incorrectly described one of the trucks that was involved in the crash.