The key to who was at fault in a deadly weekend accident involving a runaway construction roller may rest with two unidentified young boys Evanston police still were looking for Monday.
The two boys with short blond hair, estimated by witnesses as being 4- to 8-years-old, are believed to have climbed onto the roller at a sewer reconstruction site in Evanston on Saturday evening and somehow set the machine in motion, police said.
Roger Bardwell, 69, rescued the children but then was run over by the roller as he attempted to cut off its engine. He later died of his injuries.
“This thing probably is going to boil down to an issue of liability,” said Evanston Police Commander Art Ersler. “The only people who can really tell us anything about if there was any safety device in place on the machine are the two kids who were there. Everything hinges on finding those kids.
“At this point, the case is technically being treated as a fatal traffic accident,” Ersler said.
Ersler said police are looking at whether the boys could have been from another neighborhood or just visiting someone in the area.
Police evidence technicians traveled to the Glenview headquarters of the general contractor, DiPaolo Co., on Monday to examine the roller.
DiPaolo’s vice president, David DiPaolo, said the roller was manufactured by the Raygo Co., and that he didn’t know its age or maintenance history. DiPaolo said the unit did not have an enclosed cab, a common feature among newer models that might have prevented the children from starting the roller.
DiPaolo said the company is conducting its own investigation of the accident, and he declined to say whether a metal plate that blocks access to the dashboard was securely in place before the construction crew quit working for the day.
Police said Sunday that the plate, which locks with a key, was found in a construction ditch next to the roller. Officials said they haven’t determined whether the metal plate was fastened before the accident.
Work continued Monday at the site, which is in south Evanston at Barton Avenue and South Boulevard.
Candice Fochs, who lives across the street from the construction site, said that while there was a barricade around a giant hole workers had dug in the street, there was nothing to keep children from climbing on the heavy machinery.