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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article...1cc4c03286.html

East Chicago man arrested in connection with hit-and-run accident

Construction worker airlifted after being struck on I-94

By Lauri Harvey Keagle lauri.keagle@nwi.com, (219) 852-4311 | Posted: Friday, April 30, 2010 3:45 am |

buy this photo HEATHER EIDSON | THE TIMES EAST CHICAGO - Officers prepare a vehicle for towing that was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident in which a Michigan City construction worker was injured on I-94 early Friday. The car was towed from the 3600 block of Hemlock Street in East Chicago Friday.

BURNS HARBOR | An East Chicago man was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Interstate 94 that critically injured a construction worker Friday morning.

Ricardo Bustos, 21, has been booked into Porter County Jail. Formal charges are expected to be filed Friday afternoon.

Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel said Class D felony charges of leaving the scene of a personal injury crash will likely be filed. Gensel said the investigation is continuing as to whether alcohol may have played a role in the accident.

Indiana State Police confirmed two suspects and a vehicle involved in the crash were taken into custody in East Chicago, but Gensel said only one man will be charged.

According to Indiana State Police Cpl. Dwayne Dillahunty, Roger Sadler, 49, of Michigan City was struck at 3:03 a.m. by a red 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier, which fled the scene with extensive damage dragging a construction barrel underneath it.

Police said Sadler was working in a temporary construction zone at the 23.1 mile marker 1 mile east of the Porter/Burns Harbor exit when he was hit by the Cavalier. The left and middle lanes were closed at 10 p.m. Thursday and were to remain closed until 6 a.m. Friday to fill cracks on the interstate.

The area leading up to the construction zone was well posted, police said, with message boards, arrow boards, construction barrels and road signage warning traffic of the temporary construction zone and closure.

Sadler was standing outside filling cracks facing westbound in the construction zone when the eastbound Cavalier went into a crossover marked with no U-turn signage. The Cavalier made a U-turn going westbound inside the construction lanes and hit Sadler.

Sadler was carried 35 feet when he was thrown from the car.

Sadler was initially transported to Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso in serious condition with head injuries and was later flown to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

Loyola was not releasing any information on his condition mid-morning.

Sadler is employed by Moonrock Inc. of Rome City, Ind. A woman who answered the phone there Friday morning confirmed his employment but said no other information was being released at this time.

The accident comes on the heels of a fatal hit-and-run of a construction worker on the Borman Expressway last month. Christopher Jenkins, 45, of Valparaiso was struck and killed March 16 while patching potholes near Ripley Street.

Robert A. Shannon, 35, of Hammond allegedly fled the scene, leaving his car behind. Shannon has been charged in connection with the crash.

-- Times Staff Writer Ken Kosky contributed to this report.

Posted in Local on Friday, April 30, 2010 3:45 am Updated: 4:16 pm. | Tags: Traffic, Accident, Burns Harbor, Indiana State Police, Michigan City, Construction, East Chicago

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Prayers for all of the family and friends...

http://www.wgntv.com/wgntv-indiana-traffic...0,6486032.story

MAYWOOD, IL - The Indiana highway construction worker struck by a hit and run driver last Friday died from his injuries Sunday evening.

49-year old Roger Sadler of Michigan City, Indiana was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood at 5:40 p.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Sadler was part of a crew filling cracks in a temporary construction zone when the driver of an eastbound car made a U-turn inside the lanes and hit Sadler just after 3 a.m. Friday carrying him 35 feet until throwing him to the pavement, according to Indiana State Police, The driver then fled the scene. A few short hours police located the car, then the driver.

Police arrested Ricardo Bustos, 21, of East Chicago, Indiana after his mother called police telling them of his damaged car outside Bustos' grandmother's house. Inside, Bustos was found sleeping on the couch. He told police he hit a road sign driving home from work, according to the police account. He's charged with leaving the scene of a serious injury or fatal accident. Bustos' blood-alcohol concentration also tested above the legal limit, and he was charged with drunken driving causing serious bodily injury. Police said he had a prior conviction for driving drunk.

Police said they determined Bustos and a passenger in the car with him at the time of the accident had been kicked out of a bar in Chicago Heights after drinking, and attempted to drink at two other bars before driving home.

Prosecutors in Indiana may likely consider other charges since Sadler died. However, no one from the Indiana Prosecutor's office could be reached for comment.

Bustos appears in court sometime this week on the charges. The passenger in Bustos' car was questioned by police but later released.

Sadler worked for an independent contractor named Moonrock Inc, based in Rome City, Indiana.

[Ang]

This is a very sad situation. Roger's funeral is today at Ott-Havertock. I am friends with his brother-in-law. Please pray for this family. His widow, kids, and grandkids are having a very hard time coming to terms with this tragedy. He and his younger daughter were very close and he & his wife were married 30 years (they were high school sweethearts).

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I had to go to Kankakee yesterday and they had a cross erected on I-94 for him. It was powerful.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/...ec472898c4.html

VALPARAISO | A 22-year-old East Chicago man pleaded guilty Friday morning to the April 2010 hit-and-run death of a construction worker on Interstate 94.

Ricardo Bustos, 22, submitted a signed agreement in Porter Superior Court pleading guilty to one felony count of leaving the scene of a crash resulting in injury or death. Under the terms of his agreement, he likely would serve 13 1/2 years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Four other charges were dismissed, per the agreement.

According to Indiana State Police, construction worker Roger Sadler, 49, was filling cracks in a posted temporary construction zone on Interstate 94 near Burns Harbor when the driver of an eastbound car made a U-turn inside the construction lanes and hit him.

The Michigan City man was carried 35 feet before being thrown from the car. Sadler suffered severe internal injuries and died two days later.

Police said Bustos' mother called officers after her son's badly damaged car was located outside his grandmother's East Chicago home. Bustos was found inside sleeping on a couch and reportedly said he hit a road sign while driving and drove home by looking out the side window, since the windshield was damaged.

Police also said Bustos was legally intoxicated at the time.

Judge Pro Tem Gary Germann took the plea under advisement. Bustos is set to be sentenced March 23 before Porter Superior Judge Bill Alexa.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/...l#ixzz1kIkvZnU7

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http://www.chestertontribune.com/PoliceFir...eath_of_roa.htm

12 year sentence for death of road worker on I-94

A Porter County Superior Court judge sentenced an East Chicago resident to 12 years in prison on Friday after he plead guilty in the accidental death of a construction worker between the Porter/Burns Harbor and Chesterton exits of Interstate 80/94.

Judge William Alexa on Friday ruled Ricardo F. Bustos, 22, guilty in the case of striking and killing 49 year-old Roger Sadler of Michigan City at 3:30 a.m. on April 30, 2010 while driving his red 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier westbound through a work zone near mile marker 23.1.

Sadler was filling in cracks between the center and left lanes when he was struck. He died three days later at Loyola Hospital in Chicago. Bustos, said he thought he had hit a construction barrel. He fled the scene and was apprehended when police noticed his car at his East Chicago residence later that morning.

Bustos told police at his arrest that he had been drinking with a friend and admitted he “messed up and should have turned myself in,” police reports said.

Bustos has already served two years in the Porter County Jail since the incident and held a previous operating while intoxicated charge in Lake County from April 2009. He was formally sentenced last week on a Class B felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death while operating while intoxicated, which he plead guilty to this January.

The sentence order indicates Bustos will be placed in the Westville prison therapeutic community.

Bustos has asked Sadler’s family for forgiveness and vowed never to consume alcohol again.

Alexa also ordered Bustos to participate in substance abuse programs during his sentence and carry a restrictive driver’s license once he is released.

　



Posted 3/27/2012