LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- MSD hired Roger Burdette in 2008. Since then, he’d been in six mostly minor accidents before the fatal Christmas Eve crash that killed LMPD Det. Deidre Mengedoht.
Burdette told police he was taking prescriptions for high blood pressure, cholesterol and depression at the time of the crash. He’s charged with murder and DUI, and his case will soon be heard in front of a grand jury.
But before that fatal crash, Burdette was involved in other crashes in an MSD vehicle. According to records obtained by WDRB News, some were his fault, and others were not.
On June 23, 2009, Burdette had his first incident. It happened in south Louisville and was considered to be non-preventable by MSD. Burdette's truck was parked on a hill, and another truck behind him rear-ended his truck after that other truck's brakes failed.
About a year later, on July 2, 2010, Burdette was said to have damaged equipment on his truck. An accident report says he was leaving an Arby's parking lot, cut the wheels too close and hit a curb. MSD concluded the incident was preventable and was caused by inattentive driving.
Nineteen days after that, on July 21, 2010, Burdette was doing sewer work on the side of Cooper Chapel Road. Another vehicle was backing out of a driveway across the street and backed right into the MSD truck. LMPD showed up, and, according to a collision report, there was very minor damage.
About two years later, on August 3, 2012, the ladder on Burdette's truck was bent up. Reports say Burdette believed the damage to be from hitting a dirt pile on the side of the tanker. He said it likely happened at a turnaround area as he was trying to leave a work site.
Then on May 13, 2014, Burdette told an accident investigator he was backing up his truck to a pumping station when he noticed he didn't have his gloves. He then backed right into yellow cement barriers around a fire hydrant.
The report says Burdette caused severe damage to the back bumper, tail light and tail gate.
The last incident before the recent fatal December crash happened Jan. 12, 2016. Burdette was driving on the Gene Snyder Freeway when someone threw a garbage can from an overpass and hit his truck. Reports say there was little to no damage to the truck and no injuries.
There are no reports available for the Dec. 24, 2018, crash, because it's still under investigation.
Related Stories:
- MSD decides not to pay legal fees for employee charged with LMPD detective's murder
- Family of LMPD Det. Deidre Mengedoht files lawsuit against MSD, truck driver
- MSD driver charged with murder in crash that killed LMPD officer admitted to taking drugs
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