CEMENT TRUCK DRIVER, DISPATCHER CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR AND RECKLESS HOMICIDE IN DEADLY CRASH. THEY ALLEGEDLY KNEW THAT THE TRUCK BRAKES WERE FAULTY WHILE IN OPERATION
February
10, 2015
NASHVILLE,
TN (WSMV) -
Two
employees of a cement truck company at the center of a Channel 4 I-Team investigation
have been indicted on criminal charges.
The I-Team
reported earlier this month that the co-founder of Nashville Ready Mix gave a
deposition in a civil lawsuit, saying that employees of his own company had
known for weeks that the brake system on a truck was faulty.
Two of the
employees, driver Robert Ashabrunner and the dispatcher Carlton Mosely, were
charged with vehicular and reckless homicide.
Police said
Ashabrunner was the driver of the cement truck that hit and killed Sergio
Lopez, a father of two. Mosely, who wasn't anywhere near the accident, is also
charged.
The
indictment reads both men killed Lopez by allowing the operation of a
commercial motor vehicle without properly functioning equipment.
"If
they'd gotten the brakes fixed, we wouldn't be here today," said Don
Meadows, co-founder of Nashville Ready Mix.
In the
recorded deposition, Meadows said, "The driver of the truck knew the
airbag was busted."
Meadows
also said that Mosely knew that the airbags, which control the braking system
on the truck, were ruptured and sent the truck out anyway.
"They've
known it for three weeks," Meadows said.
Ashabrunner's
attorney told the I-Team by phone on Tuesday that Lopez had broken down in the
middle of the road in the dark. The attorney said it would have been difficult
for any truck, even with perfect brakes, to avoid the crash.
However,
Meadows swore under oath that he believed Nashville Ready Mix was responsible
for the crash.
"That's
the reason I want the truth told," he said.
The I-Team
reached out to Mosely's attorney, but has not heard from him yet.
Meadows
said in his deposition that other staff members knew of the faulty brake
system, but no one else has been indicted.