Horrified Children Watch as Truck Hits Couple, Kills Man

More than two dozen Ojai schoolchildren were horrified Tuesday as they helplessly watched a garbage truck back over a couple, killing the man and seriously injuring the woman.

The youngsters--ranging from kindergarten to high school age--were waiting for their school bus when the truck, driven by Roman Barrozo Jr., backed over Adelbert Krava, 63, and his wife, Vivian, 60. The couple had been trying to cross the street behind the truck, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The retired couple, out for their regular morning stroll in the Ventura County town, stepped behind the truck shortly after Barrozo finished a trash pickup and began backing down the street past the school bus stop, according to the CHP.

“He was watching his mirrors as he backed up,” said Officer David Peterson, “and ran over both of them. . . . And then as he cleared the intersection, he saw the bodies in front of his truck.”

Officers said Barrozo, 28, who was badly shaken by the accident, apparently could not hear the screams of the couple above the noise of the truck. The 1979 model truck, belonging to the Ojai Rubbish Co., was not equipped with backup warning bells that are required by law on later models, the CHP said.

The accident was still under investigation Tuesday and no citation had been issued.

Vivian Krava was reported in serious but stable condition at Ojai Community Hospital with internal injuries and bone fractures, the CHP said.

Some of the youngsters were so distraught afterward that they were sent home, Ojai Unified School District officials said.

“They’ve got this vision in their minds and they can’t get rid of it,” said Ronald Barney, principal of Nordoff High School in Ojai. “Obviously it was the worst thing they had ever seen, for most of them.”

A school district psychologist, counselors, principals and teachers attempted to help the students deal with their emotions related to the incident.

At Meiners Oaks elementary school, a kindergartner was so frightened that she vowed never to ride the bus again, school secretary Hope Baugher said.