Cops: Trucker who killed Minnesota road worker was watching porn while driving

ROGERS, Minn. — A Minnesota truck driver who killed a road worker while going 72 mph through a construction zone in October was watching pornographic videos behind the wheel as the crash took place, court documents allege.

Tate Ryan Doom, 47, of St. Paul Park, was charged July 12 with criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in the Oct. 2 death of Vernon Carl Hedquist, 59, of Pillager. Doom was booked into the Hennepin County Jail, but later released on bond.

A Minnesota State Patrol report gives some insight into the four-vehicle crash that killed Hedquist and sent his coworker, 64-year-old Thomas John Wood, of Maple Grove, to the hospital. According to troopers, a Ford F-150 pulling a trailer was traveling east on Interstate 94, near Hennepin County Road 81, when the Ford's driver, Oscar Rene Siguencia-Orbe, 30, of Minneapolis, slowed down for a construction zone that, according to court documents, had shut down the right lane of the interstate.

Hedquist’s employer, Minneapolis-based engineering firm WSB & Associates, said in October that Hedquist and his teammates were performing geotechnical work for an upcoming Minnesota Department of Transportation project.

A criminal complaint obtained by the Minneapolis Star Tribune indicates Siguencia-Orbe had merged left into the center lane of the interstate to go around the work zone when Doom's Kenworth semi rear-ended the pickup truck. The crash spun it and the trailer into the construction zone, where the truck struck two of the road crew's trucks that were parked there, troopers said.

The trailer struck Hedquist, who was killed, the complaint says. Wood was struck by flying debris from the impact. Siguencia-Orbe was not injured in the crash.

The court documents say investigators determined Doom’s semi was traveling 72 mph at the time of the crash. While that was just two miles above the speed limit posted for that portion of the interstate, the construction zone had significantly brought down the speed limit at the time of the crash.

KSTP-TV reported that the criminal complaint says MnDOT footage from the area of the crash showed Siguencia-Orbe's F-150 had merged into the center lane "well in advance of impact" and that the pickup truck was traveling at 50 mph when it was struck.

Troopers also determined that Doom was watching porn on one of two cellphones seized in the immediate aftermath of the crash, the court documents say. A forensic examination of the phones turned up 14 video files that were hastily deleted shortly after the crash.

The files had been downloaded from Porn Hub, the complaint alleges.

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Investigators said the first of the videos began playing at 1:40:53 p.m. The last of the videos, which had a run time of more than five minutes, began playing at 2:07:41 p.m.

That time was less than 90 seconds before Doom’s semi struck Siguencia-Orbe’s pickup and spun it into the construction zone.

"It appears, based on the investigation, that he was watching pornography at the time of (the crash)," Chuck Laszewski, a spokesman for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, told the Star Tribune earlier this month.

Doom denied using his cellphone or speeding, the court records allege. He claimed after the crash that he was traveling at 50 mph when it occurred.

An October Star Tribune report said Hedquist was working drilling equipment at the time of the crash and had no more than "a split second" of warning before he was killed.

Doom was driving for Vermeer of Minnesota at the time of the crash, the Star Tribune reported. It was not immediately clear Tuesday if he was still employed by the company, which sells heavy equipment involved in recycling and forestry.

The newspaper reported that the criminal charges against Doom come just two days before a new state law goes into effect prohibiting motorists from holding their cellphones in their hands as they drive.

Hedquist, a Sunday school teacher and former longtime Minnesota Department of Transportation road worker, was always concerned for his safety at work, his wife told the Star Tribune in October.

“He absolutely was very concerned about his safety on the job,” Cindy Hedquist told the paper.

WSB officials said on Facebook that Vern Hedquist would be greatly missed.

"He was always willing to lend a helping hand and truly cared about the people he worked with," the company's statement said.

Cindy Hedquist said her husband loved life.

"Vern loved working as a team and was doing his job when the accident occurred," a GoFundMe page set up on her behalf said. "Vern's family included his wife, Cindy, and several four-legged and furry children. In his time outside of work, Vern loved to hunt pheasant and deer and taught adult Sunday school at their church.

“During his tenure at WSB, Vern liked personal interactions and was always attentive in conversations. He enjoyed learning and was very curious about everything in his life.”

The fundraising page raised more than $20,000 in about a month.

Cox Media Group