Worker’s Death Leads to Criminal Charges

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed criminal charges Thursday against the owners of a Woodland Hills construction company in connection with the January death of a worker who fell from a scaffold at a Sylmar business park.

John DeWeese, 60, of Westlake Village and Robert Voit, 51, of Woodland Hills, owners of Valley Construction Co., were each charged with one count of violating a safety regulation that leads to a serious injury and a separate count of violating a worker safety regulation, the city attorney’s office said.

The charges follow an investigation into the death of Robert Cran, 57, of Reseda, a Valley construction employee who died after falling off a nine-foot scaffold at the Roxford Business Park in Sylmar, City Atty. James K. Hahn said in a statement.

Cran fell headfirst off a rolling scaffold that was not equipped with rails as is required by state regulations for all scaffolds taller than 7 1/2 feet, Hahn said. Cran was standing on the scaffold as he installed wooden trusses on the second floor of a building under construction.

DeWeese and Voit are scheduled for arraignment on Nov. 21, Hahn said. If convicted of both counts, they could each face up to a year in jail and $15,000 in fines.