Placentia Demolition Officials Sentenced

Three officials of a Placentia-based demolition firm were sentenced to 90 days in County Jail and three years of probation Wednesday for their roles in a roof collapse that killed one worker.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lance A. Ito imposed the sentence on Robert De Fazio, president of Radco Concrete Sawing and Breaking Inc., his brother and company supervisor Jeffrey De Fazio, and site supervisor Mario Aroz .

Jeffrey De Fazio and Aroz will begin serving their jail sentences Nov. 12. Robert De Fazio will begin serving his sentence Feb. 10, 1993.

Each man was also ordered to pay $100 restitution to the court. In addition, the company was fined $5,000 and placed on three years of probation.

The three men and the company pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter in the worker’s death during a June 9, 1991, roof collapse at the former National Lumber & Supply store on Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance.

Six workers were demolishing portions of the store’s roof when a heavy electrical panel they were moving across the roof fell through a portion of the structure to the concrete floor 20 feet below.

Miguel Arzate, 22, of Los Angeles, died of massive head injuries. Rigoberto Sierra, 42, also of Los Angeles, suffered a broken pelvis. The two other men who fell were not seriously hurt.