Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Records: Forklift operator in fatal crash was fined 3 times
A forklift operator involved in a fatal crash over the weekend had been fined three times for driving without a license since 2011, Palm Beach court records show.
Thirty-year-old Ulises Mondragon was driving a forklift near Fort Lauderdale beach when he pulled out too far into an intersection. The forks of the lift extended into a travel lane and tore into a convertible MercedesBenz that had its top down, an arrest report said.
The framework that ran above the Mercedes’ windshield was ripped backwards, injuring the driver. James Zako, 70, died at the hospital as a result of his head injuries, the report said.
Mondragon, of West Palm Beach, told police on Saturday that he did not have a driver license, nor a permit to operate heavy machinery like the forklift.
That’s been the case since at least 2011 when Mondragon was pulled over in Greenacres. He was stopped for driving with an open 12-ounce bottle of Corona beer and told police he had never had a driver license, court records show.
Mondragon pleaded guilty and was fined $274.05 The fine was never paid and the case was eventually sent to a collection agency.
He was pulled over again in 2012 and told Palm Springs police he had never had a license, pleaded guilty and was fined $303. That case also went to collections and remains unpaid.
During that incident, Palm
Springs police found a small baggie of cocaine in Mondragon’s pants pocket. Prosecutors declined to pursue a cocaine possession charge though, according to court documents.
There was yet another incident in 2016 in the Town of Palm Beach. Mondragon again pleaded guilty to driving without a valid license and was fined $298. That fine also remains delinquent, records show.
After Mondragon crashed into the Mercedes on Saturday, he continued on his way through the intersection at Seabreeze Boulevard and Poinsettia Street and on to a construction site a block away, police said.
A witness, who watched Mondragon park and walk away from the forklift, prompted him to return to the crash scene.
“He was not going back towards the crash scene nor did he call 911 to report the incident,” the police report said of Mondragon.
Zakos, meanwhile, was alone, dead at the wheel of his black Mercedes convertible. Joggers and passers-by placed frantic 911 calls.
The Fort Lauderdale man was pronounced dead at Broward Health Medical Center.
“Jim lived life fully on his own terms,” his obituary said. “Many
will smile when they hear his name.”
Zakos worked in commercial real estate and restaurant development and is survived by two children and “his best canine pal, Dakota,” according to the obituary.
“Since his retirement, he continued to relish summers on the St.
Lawrence River and winters in Fort Lauderdale, where he could enjoy the warmth, drive the beach road, and watch the boats go by,” it said.
Mondragon is now jailed in Pompano Beach for failing to get a driver license, along with a felony count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
At Mondragon’s first-appearance court hearing on Monday, a Broward County judge set his bond at $200,000.
If he posts bond, Mondragon must wear a GPS monitor, surrender his passport, submit to random twice-a-week drug and alcohol testing and he will not be allowed to drive, the judge ordered.
Mondragon is originally from El Salvador. He does not speak English nor does he have documentation to be in the United States. Authorities have placed an immigration hold on him.