IDOT contractor killed when minivan crashes into worksite on Golf Road just east of Busse Road in Mount Prospect.
On Tuesday evening, October 29, 2019 the Mount Prospect Police Department announced the arrest of Munkhbat Munkh Erdene, age 30, of 5201 Carriageway Drive, Rolling Meadows, for Reckless Homicide and Aggravated Driving Under the Influence. These charges stem from the traffic crash that took place on Sunday, October 27, 2019 on Golf Road near Robert Drive where Munkh Erdene was the driver of a minivan that struck and killed Roberto Orozco, a landscaping employee and injured another landscaping employee. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charges of one felony count of Reckless Homicide and two felony counts of Aggravated Driving Under the Influence.
The crash investigation revealed that Munkhbat Munkh Erdene, an off-duty Lyft driver, was operating his Toyota minivan eastbound on Golf Road approaching Robert Drive, while under the influence of alcohol. When Munkh Erdene failed to reduce his speed or change lanes to avoid a crash, he struck and killed landscape company owner Roberto Orozco, who was a contractor actively working for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).
Munkh Erdene was arrested and charged with one felony count of Reckless Homicide and two felony counts of Aggravated Driving Under the Influence. Munkh Erdene was transported to the Cook County 3rd District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows for a bond hearing, where the Honorable Judge Mandeltort issued bond at $75,000.00 “D”. Munkh Erdene’s next court date is set for November 21, 2019 in room 108 of the Cook County 3rd District Courthouse in Rolling Meadows at 10:30 AM. As a condition of bond, Judge Mandeltort ordered Munkh Erdene’s passport be turned over to the Mount Prospect Police Department.
Mount Prospect police and firefighter/paramedics responded about 11:13 a.m. Sunday October 27, 2019 to a report of a traffic crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on Golf Road (Route 58) east of Busse Road between Edgewood Lane and Robert Drive.
Upon arrival, officers located a crash involving a minivan and construction vehicles, and two injured construction landscape workers.
Roberto Orozco was transported to Level 1 Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead. The identity of Roberto Orozco, age 67, was initially withheld until next of kin was notified. The driver of the Toyota minivan was identified as Munkhbat Munkh Erdene. Police conducted a roadside sobriety test. Mount Prospect police did not initially confirm that the driver underwent toxicology testing, but Illinois Statute requires a chemical test when the driver of a motor vehicle is involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident. The crash was investigated by the Mount Prospect Police Department’s Major Crash Investigation Team, along with assistance from the Major Case Assistance Team’s Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction (STAR) Team. The team of crash investigators were called to the scene shortly after the crash, and the eastbound lanes of Golf Road remained blocked all afternoon, and past 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
According to Mount Prospect Police Department, the driver of the minivan struck the rear of an electronic arrow sign board that was hitched to a landscaping pickup truck in the curb lane of eastbound Golf Road between Edgewood Lane and Robert Drive. Initial investigation revealed the Toyota minivan was being driven eastbound on Golf Road approaching Robert Drive in the curb lane when it struck an electronic arrow sign board and Roberto Orozco. When the arrow sign board was struck, it swung around closer to the curb and struck the second worker, who is 26 years-old.
The injured worker who was struck by the sign board was transported by Mount Prospect firefighter/paramedics to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.
Munkhbat Munkh Erdene, the driver and sole occupant of the minivan, was transported by Mount Prospect firefighter/paramedics to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital as a result of the crash with non-life threatening injuries.
Two people who witnessed the crash said one of the workers was tossed about 20 feet into the air. Roberto Orozco landed about 30 feet down the road from the crashed minivan, trailer, and a landscaping company pickup truck.
Munkhbat Munkh Erdene’s dashboard-mounted camera captured the crash on video. Roberto Orozco and the other worker that was hit were both wearing neon yellow vests and bright orange hats. Both were working as IDOT contractors at the time of the crash. Orozco was looking down and placing safety cones on the roadway in front of a large, flashing arrow sign on a trailer (at the back of the pickup truck) as Erdene’s vehicle approached, according to Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Jennifer Gates.
The construction landscape workers were patching up lawn damage following the completion of the Golf Road resurfacing project along Golf Road. The impact broke both of Orozco’s legs, caused cranial bleeding and a lacerated liver, and severed Orozco’s spine. Orozco was a husband, a father of four, and a landscaping company owner working out of Hanover Park.
The public is reminded that criminal charges are not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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