Semi driver who killed highway worker on I-94 in 2018 sentenced to prison

A semi driver charged in connection to a fatal crash on Interstate 94 in Rogers in October 2018 has been sentence to prison.

According to court records, 48-year-old Tate Doom, of St. Paul Park, was sentenced to over four years (51 months) at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility. He’d previously pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection to the Oct. 2, 2018 crash, which killed 59-year-old Vernon Hedquist, of Pillager, a construction worker.

Charges: Semi driver who killed highway worker on I-94 watched porn on phone minutes before crash

A criminal complaint states police noted a number of video files had been deleted from Doom’s phone shortly after the crash, 14 of which were downloaded from Pornhub. Further analysis found that the videos were played on the cellphone prior to the crash, with the last one having started less than two minutes before Doom rear-ended a Ford F-150 and a trailer that was traveling through a construction zone on eastbound I-94.

The trailer separated from the truck and flew into a construction zone, killing Hedquist and injuring another construction worker.