CEMENT COMPANY MAY KNEW THE BRAKES IN A TRUCK INVOLVED IN A DEADLY ACCIDENT WEREN'T WORKING PROPERLY, BUT USED IT ANYWAY.
February 01, 2015
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)
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A former
high-ranking employee said the cement company knew the brakes in a truck
involved in a deadly accident that killed 33-year-old Sergio Lopez weren't
working properly, but used it anyway.
The co-founder of
the company said the business ignored safety risks and said some members of the
management staff tried to hide the truth.
Lopez was at the
wrong place at the wrong time when he was struck and killed by a cement truck
owned by Nashville Ready Mix on March 14, 2013.
"At the time of
his death, he was 33 years old," said attorney Dave Rich. "He had two
children. He was everything to them."
It had all the
appearances of a tragic accident, but a Channel 4 I-Team investigation showed a
co-founder of Nashville Ready Mix saying, in a deposition, that now only did
the company know this truck's brakes were bad but tried to cover it up.
"I just wanted
the truth to come out," said Donald Meadows in the deposition.
Meadows, one of the
founders of Nashville Ready Mix, said he learned about the accident from a
company dispatcher, according to the sworn deposition for a lawsuit against the
company. Meadows said the dispatcher told him that Nashville Ready Mix's
current general manager instructed drivers to “keep rolling” despite the
systematic maintenance and safety issues with the concrete trucks.
He also said in the
sworn deposition that the dispatcher told him the company and the driver of the
truck had known about the bad brakes for weeks.
"They've known
if for three weeks," said Meadows in the deposition. "They run that
truck with busted air bags."
When he said busted
air bags, he's referring to the types of brakes on the truck that uses
compressed air to come to a stop.
"If they'd
gotten the brakes fixed, we wouldn't be here today," said Meadows in the
deposition.
In court filings,
the company denied everything Meadows claimed happened, and how Meadows ended
up giving a deposition against his own company is something right out of a
Tennessee Williams' play.
Meadows said three
days after the accident, he had a meeting with his granddaughter, who helps run
the business, and the company's attorney.
He said they told
him he needed to leave the company and offered him money to stay away.
"Donald Meadows
testifies at length the hush money he was offered, and specifically testified
it was hush money," said Rich.
Meadows later came
back saying he wanted to see the records of the truck involved in the crash.
That's when he said
Meadows, who can't walk without canes, said he saw the stairs to his office had
been cut down by a chainsaw, replaced by a ladder he couldn't climb, and the
doors were locked.
"Why do you
think that staircase was cut down?" Meadows said in the deposition.
"So I couldn't get the records."
While the company's
attorneys couldn't comment because of the pending litigation, they did question
Meadows in the deposition about something that happened more than 40 years ago
in another case.
"Did you serve
time in a penitentiary for perjury?" the attorney asked.
“Yeah, but that
ain't got anything to do with this,” Meadows responded.
And the attorneys
asked him what happened the day he discovered the missing stairs.
"You came down
there and threatened to kill people, didn't you," an attorney asked
Meadows.
"Oh, no,"
replied Meadows.
The attorney
representing the Lopez family said those questions are just a smokescreen to
cover up a public safety issue.
"When you
operate a truck and you know it is unsafe, you have, in my mind, committed a
criminal act," said Rich.
A criminal
investigation may be underway.
The Channel 4 I-Team
asked the Tennessee Highway Patrol about the crash. The agency said it couldn't
comment on advisement from the district attorney.