Velasquez Verdict 'Not A Win,' Injured Trooper's Wife Says

Caption: Kimberli Balder stands behind husband, Trooper Douglas Balder, during press conference last month calling for reckless homicide charges against fatigued trucker who triggered fiery crash on I-88 that severely injured her husband and killed an Illinois tollway worker.

Despite Thursday’s guilty verdict of a Hanover Park trucker whose fatigued driving triggered a fiery crash on I-88, the trucker’s conviction brought little closure to the wife of an Illinois state trooper who was severely injured in the crash.

Renato Velasquez, 46, was convicted of operating a commercial carrier while fatigued and and failure to comply with federal service requirements after a two-and-a-half day bench trial in DuPage County. Other felony charges of falsifying his logbook were dropped because it was unclear if the alleged forgeries took place in Illinois.

Velasquez faces a maximum sentence of three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections or probation for the same period of time. He also served a 50-month term in a federal prison after being arrested for selling a kilo of cocaine in January 2001, according to news reports.

The Jan. 27, 2014 crash that took place after Velasquez had driven over 20 hours with little sleep in violation of federal transport rules killed Illinois tollway worker Vincent Petrella, and put trooper Douglas Balder in a medically induced coma for six weeks with brain injuries, burns and fractured ribs.

Both men had stopped to help a disabled semi-trailer in the eastbound lane of I-88 near Eola Road in Aurora, when Velasquez’s rig plowed into the back of Balder’s squad car and Petrella’s tollway maintenance truck, causing all three vehicles to burst into flames.

Balder declined to comment but his wife, Kimberli, spoke out following the guilty verdict.

“The evidence was pretty clear he committed crimes,” Kimberli Balder said. “We still don’t view it as a win because Vincent lost his life.”

Douglas Balder took the stand on Tuesday in uniform, who described waking up “burning alive” in inside his demolished squad car that had been pushed into a ditch.

“Douglas’s recovery will be longer than this guy’s jail time,” Kimberli Balder said. “His physical scars are very much there and he goes to physical therapy several times a week.”

The trooper returned to work part-time last December, and was recently cleared to return full time a year to the date after the accident.

After his testimony on Tuesday, Balder returned the next day in street clothes, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a compression sleeve on his burned left arm.

“He has to wear compression garments,” his wife said. “He’s behind a desk but wants to go back to patrol.”

Douglas and Kimberli Balder, along with Liz Sauter, widow of State Trooper James Sauter who was also killed in a March 2013 accident on I-294 involving a fatigued trucker, held a press conference last month pushing for reckless homicide charges against the truck drivers who caused the fatal crashes.

Legislation is currently making its way through the Illinois General Assembly to increase penalities against truckers and bus drivers who violate federal rules requiring 10 hours of sleep and rest after 14 hours on-duty.

“[The DuPage County State’s Attorney] could have charged [Velasquez] with reckless homicide but they didn’t want to do the work,” Kimberli Balder said. “This was an easy win. They didn’t want to use our case to make a precedent.”

The Balders, who reside in Oswego, and Petrella’s family have filed a civil suit against Velasquez and the Naperville trucking company where he was employed, DND International, Inc. Following the accident, DND was temporarily shut down by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The trucking company won a court ruling last April allowing its truckers to return to the road.

Velasquez returns to court for a pre-sentencing hearing on March 23. Kimberli Balder said if allowed, her husband intends to make a victim’s impact statement when he is eventually sentenced.

Requesting that his client be allowed to remain free on bond until sentencing after Thursday’s verdict, Goldman told Judge Robert Kleeman that Velasquez showed up for every court status hearing, backed by his extended family.

Goldman called the case a tragedy for all involved.

“I’ll be asking for probation, but he’s prepared to serve time in prison,” Goldman said.