DA's office reviewing fatal Silver State crash

The Silver State Disposal truck that plunged down a 300-foot gully, killing two people in December, had virtually no working brakes at the time of the accident, Nevada Highway Patrol troopers said Tuesday.

About 75 percent of the truck's air brakes were not making contact with the wheels to stop the truck, a Highway Patrol investigation showed.

Now Clark County prosecutors are waiting for a Highway Patrol review of Silver State's records on repairs, maintenance, inspections, drivers and other areas to decide if the company will face charges of criminal negligence in connection with the crash.

Troopers have finished their inspection of the disposal company's records. They will tell Silver State of the findings, then meet with prosecutors probably later this week or early next week, Sgt. David Sowder of the commercial enforcement division, said.

Sowder would not reveal what troopers found in the review of the company's records.

Silver State spokeswoman Lee Haney referred all questions about the accident and the investigation to company attorney Robert Groesbeck, who could not be reached for comment this morning.

The accident inspection report showed there was no way Silver State driver Larry Mitchell could stop his 38,880-pound truck as it was coming down State Route 158 on Mount Charleston Dec. 20 about 6:50 a.m., said Trooper Bob West, who inspected the wreckage.

"He didn't have sufficient brakes. He could push his foot to the floor all he wanted, but it wasn't going to stop," West said. "There's no doubt in my mind he was pushing on the brake pedal for all he was worth."

The truck crashed through a guardrail and plummeted down the side of an embankment, killing Mitchell, 42, and co-worker Ilie Jones, 47.

The truck has six brakes on three axles -- one brake per tire -- and West said he found that four of them were out of adjustment enough to provide no braking to those tires. One would have provided some braking. It, however, was out of adjustment, though not enough to violate federal standards. The sixth brake was damaged by the crash, and investigators could not determine if it was working.

West said he assumed the sixth brake was within guidelines when he calculated the truck's total braking power, and he still determined that the brakes were 74.9 percent out of adjustment.

"He was an accident waiting to happen in that truck," West said. "If he was driving down Rancho Drive and someone stopped in front of him, he would have hit the car. He was going to hit whatever was in front of him."

Prosecutors have to determine if there was any negligence on the part of the company and if so, whether that negligence was criminal, said Gary Booker, Clark County chief deputy district attorney of the vehicle crime unit.

Even if there was negligence, it may not be criminal. An example of negligence that may not be criminal is a driver going the speed limit, running a stop sign and hitting a pedestrian. But a driver going 85 miles per hour in a school zone running a stop sign and hitting a student in a crosswalk would rise to criminal negligence.

West said all commercial vehicle drivers are required to inspect their trucks before taking them out.

Mitchell's wife, Sharon Mitchell, said her husband had complained about the brakes before the accident and filed a written request for the truck to get fixed.

"He died because of those brakes," she said. "He didn't die because of something he did."

Whatever prosecutors decide to do, Silver State still faces the possibility of civil liability from Mitchell's and Jones' families.

Sharon Mitchell said Tuesday she is in the process of filing a civil lawsuit against Silver State. But she said there is no way she will ever get what she really wants -- her husband of 18 years and father of three children back.

"It's not been easy. They took everything I live for away," she said. "I have no one to talk to. He was my best friend. I just miss everything about him."

She especially misses her husband's routine when he would come home. Every day for the last 10 years, Sharon Mitchell could count on the same thing coming out of her husband's mouth.

"He'd come in and say 'Honey Crunch, where you at?' " she said. "He was watching TV one day and saw a commercial. I guess he liked it, and he started call me that. I miss him calling me Honey Crunch."

Keith Paul covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at [email protected]

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