From the Chicago Tribune
Charges in I-57 crash that killed IDOT worker, injured another
Tribune staff report,
June 13, 2008, 10:53 AM CDT
THE BLOTTER
A Harvey man was charged with reckless homicide in the death of an Illinois Department of Transportation worker who, along with another worker, was hit by a vehicle Wednesday on Interstate Highway 57, authorities said.
Lovelle Gates, 22, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and reckless homicide, both felonies, following the Wednesday crash that killed Jose Manuel Chavez, 41, of Berwyn, the first worker killed in an Illinois highway work zone this year. The injured worker, Nicolas Tapia, 39, of Melrose Park was treated at Stroger Hospital for a head injury and released.
The workers were on the left shoulder of the southbound lanes at 119th Street, picking up either traffic barricades or a lane closure sign, around 2:40 p.m. when a sedan struck Chavez and then hit their work truck, said Illinois State Police Lt. Luis Gutierrez, a state police spokesman. Tapia was also hit by the truck, he said.
The driver attempted to flee on foot, but was apprehended not far from the crash site, Gutierrez said.
Illinois legislators in recent years have enacted stiff penalties for motorists who strike workers in construction zones. If a worker is killed, the driver can face up to a $10,000 fine and have his or her license suspended for 2 to 5 years. A driver also can be charged with reckless homicide, which carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
Special safety measures, such as vans that take photographs of speeders and generate tickets, were not operating along this stretch of the interstate, in part because it was a temporary work zone, Gutierrez said.
Gates was due to appear for a bond hearing Friday in the Markham courthouse.
Jeremy Gorner, Tribune reporter
Copyright © 2008, The Chicago Tribune
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