Report: Truck driver in fiery Santa Rosa crash had limited brake training, company rated ‘unsatisfactory’

The driver of a fire debris truck who police say was responsible for a violent wreck in Santa Rosa that injured seven people failed to follow proper maintenance protocols, had limited brake training and was working for a company rated “unsatisfactory” by the California Highway Patrol, according to the final crash report from the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Francisco Alberto Rodriguez, 45, of Sunnyvale, was behind the wheel of a heavy-duty dump truck when it blew through a red light in February at the intersection of Fountaingrove Parkway and Mendocino Avenue on the city’s north end. He told police his brakes failed right before colliding with five vehicles, setting off a chain-reaction crash that involved a total of 10 vehicles, several of which burst into flames.

Three motorists were sent to the hospital with critical injuries, including one who was paralyzed. The resulting inferno took firefighters nearly an hour to get under control.

Rodriguez told Santa Rosa police investigators immediately after the crash that the maintenance schedule called for him to adjust his brakes before he drove the morning of Feb. 5, but he chose to wait until the afternoon, postponing a safety check that never happened, the report stated. He also told investigators he had received minimal instruction on brake safety - a statement later backed by his employer, Flores Trucking Co. of Vallejo, according to the report.

Its completion was announced June 2, when a Santa Rosa police sergeant detailed many of the key findings but withheld the report pending review by the department’s records division. The Press Democrat obtained the full report Thursday from an attorney for one of the crash victims after the Police Department declined to release it as part of a public records request.

Santa Rosa police concluded Rodriguez was in violation of a vehicle code for not ensuring his brakes were in good working condition, which caused the accident.

Rodriguez was hired in December by Flores Trucking, according to police. Jose Flores told investigators that he had no specific training requirements, and that, because Rodriguez had past experience as a commercial hauler, he trusted Rodriguez’s assertion that he already knew how to inspect the truck. He offered the new driver little brake adjustment training, police stated in their report.

Rodriguez acknowledged to investigators in a follow-up interview in May that state traffic rules require he check the commercial rig’s brakes every three days, the report stated.

In the week following the violent crash, accident specialists with CHP’s Golden Gate Division inspected the burned truck and its charred contents. They determined three of its eight brakes were out of adjustment.

During the four-month investigation, Santa Rosa police also found that a separate CHP unit graded Flores Trucking’s maintenance program “unsatisfactory” because it did not meet state regulations, though the date of that rating was unclear. The CHP asserted it was unable to determine if the company’s drivers could safely operate trucks, but believed at least one was put to work before the driver had sufficient training, the report said.

Attorney Rick Jacobson, who represents Rodriguez and Flores Trucking, declined to comment Friday. Messages left on Friday for ECC, the Burlingame company that subcontracted debris hauling to Flores Trucking as part of its government cleanup contract, also went unreturned.

The crash came amid a historic effort to remove roughly 1.9 million tons of fire debris from burned residential properties in Sonoma County. Numerous subcontractors were involved in the government-sponsored cleanup that lasted nearly eight months and wrapped up on Monday.

The final crash report showed that the 2009 Kenworth four-axle truck weighed more than 30 tons, including at least 13 tons of fire debris it was carrying at 9:25 a.m. when it barreled down a steep hill on Fountaingrove Parkway and into morning traffic. The report said Rodriguez was on his way to Highway 101 en route to the Stony Point Rock Quarry west of Cotati to drop his load.

The report noted the weight of the truck and its charred contents, which were weighed two different ways the day after the accident, did not represent exact measurements at the time of the collision because of fire damage. A spokesman for ECC stated in February that weight is a significant factor because it can impact a truck’s mechanical systems, including its brakes.

A sergeant with the CHP accident team said in April the truck appeared overweight, but he was unavailable Friday to answer follow-up questions. A message left for the Santa Rosa Police Department’s traffic enforcement division also went unreturned.

A leader of that division, Sgt. Chad Heiser, said earlier this month that police found no criminal negligence, but the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office will review the report to determine if there was any criminal violation.

“It’s more of a civil liability issue than a criminal issue,” he said June 2. “There were actions taken and not taken that could definitely point to some civil liability and negligence. But that’s out of the realm of the police department.”

At least three crash victims have filed civil lawsuits. District Attorney Jill Ravitch said Friday her office was still reviewing the report and had yet to make a decision about potential criminal charges.

Flores told investigators in May his company has a policy that sets maximum truck weight at 32.5 tons - including the rig and its allowable capacity - and he did not believe it would have been overweight, the report stated. Rodriguez said the Kenworth model T800B dump truck’s floating fourth axle was engaged, but that could not be verified by investigators. Its use would have created a 10-ton weight discrepancy.

The crash report does not state what role weight played in the crash, nor does it cite the truck’s speed before impact. Rodriguez was properly licensed, passed blood and breathalyzer tests for intoxicants and said he was not distracted. He estimated he was going 35 mph. The posted speed limit on Fountaingrove Parkway is 40 mph, and a witness told police the truck was likely traveling between 40 and 45 mph at the time of the collision, according to the report.

Staff Writer Julie Johnson contributed reporting. You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or at kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.