Manslaughter Charge Filed Over Death in Trench Collapse

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office on Friday filed a manslaughter charge against a San Fernando Valley plumbing contractor who allegedly failed to reinforce a 10-foot-deep trench before its walls collapsed last May, killing one worker and injuring another.

The case against Bill Lindon, 51, who runs an independent sewer and plumbing business in Northridge, was brought by a division of the district attorney’s office that specializes in prosecuting employers for safety violations. While the division has filed scores of cases, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner said this marked only the fifth manslaughter charge filed by the division in its six-year history.

Reiner said Lindon had agreed through his attorney to surrender in Los Angeles Municipal Court Nov. 14. The charge against him carries a maximum sentence of four years in state prison.

Jose Collazo Alonzo, 54, of Sun Valley, died without regaining consciousness about seven hours after he was buried in dirt for about 30 minutes at a Pacoima construction site.

The failure to reinforce the walls of the trench was “a clear case of cutting corners to cut costs,” Reiner said. “As a result, a man is dead.”

Lindon--who suffered a broken pelvis when he tried to rescue Alonzo and the other worker, Jose Rivera, who suffered minor injuries--was not available for comment.

The cave-in occurred May 20 along a 15-foot section of a trench dug to replace a sewer line to a warehouse.

The state building code requires trenches deeper than five feet to be shored with wood reinforcement or to have sloped walls in order to guard against a collapse.

Reiner said that three days before the accident, a Los Angeles city inspector noticed that the trench dug by Lindon’s workmen was not protected. The inspector warned G&W; Builders of Brea, the building contractor that hired Lindon, of the violation, Reiner said. In turn, G&W; ordered Lindon to reinforce the trench, going so far as to cut away concrete to allow the sides of the trench to be widened at an angle, Reiner said.

“But the contractor--to save money by doing less grading--sent two workers into an unsafe trench,” the district attorney said.

In the wake of the accident, the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined Lindon $36,085 for “willful” violations. It also fined G&W; $4,450. No criminal charges were filed against G&W; by Reiner’s office.

In another case of alleged employer negligence, Reiner said Friday that no decision has been made on whether to file criminal charges against the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in connection with the death of a county worker who fell from the Pacoima Dam in June.

Mario Sanchez, a 30-year-old county flood control worker, plunged down a sheer rock face next to the dam when a safety rope snapped as he was clearing brush.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health in July cited the county for six safety violations, including using a hoisting device not designated for lifting workers and failing to provide backup safety rigging. The county has appealed the citations.