City Probes Report Another Trash Truck Had Ram Mishap : Safety: A driver says breakdown happened at dump. Officials had claimed defect that killed two boys was unique.

Contrary to their insistence over the past week that the city trash truck malfunction that killed two 8-year-old boys was a unique, freak occurrence, Los Angeles officials confirmed Tuesday that they are investigating reports that a similar breakdown struck another truck in the fleet earlier this year.

East Valley yard truck driver Mike Vargas, a 29-year city employee, told The Times that the ram broke on one of his colleague’s trucks, No. 50, while it was dumping trash at the Lopez Canyon landfill earlier this year, sending a hydraulic piston through the truck’s casing.

It was a similar 12-foot piston that burst through the side of truck No. 70 last Wednesday, then slammed into an oncoming school bus filled with 48 children. Third-graders Francisco Mata and Brian Serrano were killed, and Serrano’s cousin, Mario Garay, was severely injured.

Joe Zuniga, the man who was driving truck No. 50 when the ram allegedly broke, did not return repeated phone calls for comment Tuesday. City officials declined to release maintenance records on truck No. 50 Tuesday, saying they had not had time to review them.

“I wish I could tell you right now that I had documented proof that it never happened before. I can’t,” said Frank Cardenas, vice president of the Board of Public Works. “Frankly, I am afraid of what I’m going to have to tell you in a couple of days.”

If the ram did break and the piston catapulted through truck No. 50, Cardenas added, “It gets a lot messier.”

Assistant City Atty. Christopher Westhoff, who has been coordinating much of the city’s response to the tragedy, testified before a City Council committee Monday afternoon that there had “absolutely not” been similar problems with any of the automated trucks designed by Ontario-based manufacturer Amrep Corp., but in an interview Tuesday acknowledged that he has also been told about the incident involving truck No. 50.

“Rams break. Wheels fly off. I wouldn’t be surprised if a ram had broken,” Westhoff said. “But even if it did, we’re not sure what the cause was. If the driver had thought it was a big deal, he would have told somebody. It’s only in retrospect that it takes on any importance.”

But City Council members Richard Alarcon, who chairs the Public Works Committee, and Jackie Goldberg, who represents the area where the accident occurred, said the discovery of a similar problem earlier this year would change their perspective on the tragic accident.

“It certainly should have alarmed somebody, shouldn’t it have?” Goldberg said.

“It seems to me that something as significant as a hydraulic ram plowing through the metal wall of a trash [truck] is something that a department ought to remember,” Alarcon said. “If it’s true, then obviously I’m deeply concerned as to why they wouldn’t have responded.”

Department of General Services director Randall Bacon said Tuesday that he also heard Monday about a ram breaking through a truck at the landfill, but could not confirm whether it had happened. Fleet director Alvin Blain declined to comment.

Bureau of Sanitation Director Del Biagi also said he lacked the facts. “We have been saying that there’s no incident like this before and now it looks like there might have been,” Biagi said.

Also Tuesday, The Times learned that the North Central Collection Yard where truck No. 70 was stationed received a “satisfactory” rating during 1994 and 1990 inspections by the California Highway Patrol, but that the yard was not inspected by the CHP in 1992, as required by state law.

“If they don’t receive an inspection every two years, they’re technically in violation,” said Mike Kelley, civilian motor carrier specialist for the CHP. Kelley could not say whether the city or the CHP was responsible for the missed inspection.

“They’re going to have to explain to me why, because they’re not following the law,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who authored the law requiring biennial CHP inspections. “They’re supposed to be in there. That’s the only way we know the trucks are safe.”

During the 1994 inspection, the CHP examined 20 trucks, not including No. 70, and found 42 violations--excessive oil under the vehicle, loose wheel nuts, a power steering leak at the gearbox and loose electrical wires. None were serious enough to pull vehicles from service, Kelley said.

In other developments Tuesday, Mario Garay was expected to be released from the hospital, trash pickup continued to be delayed, Alarcon called for an audit of the city’s sanitation truck maintenance records, and Councilwoman Rita Walters proposed a citywide review of vehicle and equipment safety policies.

Nearly a week after the accident, less than half the city’s fleet of 390 Amrep automated trucks had returned to the road, with the rest grounded for further inspection and maintenance.

Delays remained worst in the east San Fernando Valley, where drivers struggled Tuesday to pick up Monday’s trash and Tuesday’s trash remained on the curb untouched. Marilyn McGuire of the Bureau of Sanitation said drivers would continue working overtime through the weekend and expected to be caught up on their routes by Monday, but officials said the same thing last weekend, to no avail.

“We know every citizen in this city, every resident, understands the need to leave no stone unturned in our inspection of every single one of the trucks in our fleet,” Cardenas said at a Board of Public Works meeting. “That means we are going to be delayed.”

Mario has expressed a desire to attend the funeral today of his classmate and cousin, said Dr. Tim Degner, attending physician at Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Los Angeles.

Degner said Tuesday that his 8-year-old patient has “improved quite a bit,” but still has mild head pain and weakness with his right hand and arm. He has difficulty reaching out and picking up objects with his right hand, Degner said, but the boy’s memory and speech seem fine.