Local News in Brief : Firm Fined Over Death

A Glendale scaffolding company was fined $2,500 Thursday and its president ordered to follow elaborate safety procedures after the firm entered a plea of no contest to a charge of criminal negligence in the electrocution death of a contractor in April.

As part of a negotiated plea, Los Angeles Municipal Judge D. Joseph Spada dismissed four criminal charges against Setven Phetteplace, 42, president of Atlas Scaffold Corp., but fined the company and placed it on three years’ probation for operating an unsafe workplace by erecting a scaffold too close to a power line.

Assistant City Atty. Vanessa Place said Phetteplace would be required to inspect every job site, write memorandums on hazards and safety procedures for each job and conduct safety meetings in Spanish and English for all employees using the company’s scaffolding.

In September, the city attorney’s office filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Phetteplace, the company and two others in connection with the April 6 death of Jose Osmin Argueta, 32, a water-blasting contractor electrocuted when he walked into a 4,800-volt power line while working on an Atlas scaffold.

Rudy Garcia of Los Angeles, the job supervisor, and C. William Cason of Malibu, owner of the Los Angeles apartment building where the accident occurred, both pleaded no contest earlier and were fined $450 each. Garcia was also placed on three years’ probation.