GLENDALE : Dirt Truck Loses Brakes on Cul-De-Sac

A stake-bed truck loaded with dirt lost its brakes Tuesday, drove through a guardrail on a cul-de-sac and rolled down a steep embankment before stopping in a cement drainage ditch, authorities said.

Salvador Ayala Cervantes, 37, an independent contractor from Los Angeles, planned to turn his 12,000-pound truck around in a cul-de-sac in the 700 block of Foxkirk Road when he realized he had no brakes, said Officer Rodney Brooks of the Glendale Police Department.

Instead, Cervantes broke through a guardrail and rolled about 50 yards toward two occupied homes at the base of the hill, Brooks said. Fortunately, he said, the truck was stopped about 30 yards from the homes by a cement drainage ditch, Brooks said.

Both homes were evacuated shortly after the 12:50 p.m. accident, and remained empty while construction workers unloaded the truck by spreading the dirt out along a ridge, Brooks said.

Cervantes was uninjured, but the truck’s front axle was broken when it hit the ditch, Brooks said.

The truck was braced by steel cables from tow trucks atop the hill to ensure it didn’t slip farther down the 45-degree incline, Brooks said.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation. If equipment failure is discovered as the cause, Cervantes will not be cited, Brooks said.