Landscape Firm in Fatal Accident Unlicensed, State Says

The owner of a Moorpark landscaping firm did not have a valid license to conduct a trail-clearing project that led to a fatal accident earlier this week, state officials said Wednesday.

One worker was killed and another injured when the tractor they were using to clear a horse path on a steep grade Monday in the Santa Rosa Valley flipped over.

The state Department of Consumer Affairs has begun an investigation of the business practices of Randy Roberts, owner of Roberts Lawn Care Landscape Maintenance, said Lynette Blumehardt, a spokeswoman with the department’s contractor licensing board.

Investigators will present their findings to the Ventura County district attorney’s office, which then will decide whether to file charges, Blumehardt said.

Roberts, whose landscaping firm regularly does work throughout the Santa Rosa Valley, was cited for contracting without a license in 1999, Blumehardt said. “He never was licensed,” she said.

After he received the citation, Roberts was ordered to pay a $700 fine and refrain from contracting work until he passed the state’s landscaping contractor’s exam, Blumehardt said.

Roberts could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

But Roberts’ wife, Norma, said her husband was not working as a contractor on the project in the gated community of Lexington Hills.

“That is not considered contracting,” she said. “It’s regular landscape maintenance.”

On Monday afternoon, Abelardo Menendez lost control of his tractor as he attempted to back down a steep trail and it flipped over, Ventura County fire officials said. Co-worker Ladislao Najera Esparza, 29, who was seated in the scooper bucket, was thrown from the tractor, then crushed under one of its steel arms, officials said.

Menendez suffered rib injuries but declined medical treatment at the scene. Both men lived in Oxnard.

The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health also is investigating the accident and should complete a report before the end of the year, officials said Wednesday.

Esparza, whose body was to be taken back to his native Mexico for burial, died of suffocation by chest compression, Deputy Medical Examiner Armando Chavez said.

Esparza had a wife and two daughters in Mexico, officials said.

The Lexington Hills Homeowners Assn. approved the hiring of the Roberts landscape company at its Dec. 5 meeting, said Lance Marsh, owner of Gold Coast Management in Thousand Oaks.

Marsh, property manager for the association, said Roberts assured the board that he had a valid contractor’s license. Roberts showed proof of insurance but not a license.

“That’s a surprise to us,” Marsh said. “We’re going to have a meeting with the board and ask to see if he can produce a license.”

In order to be a state-certified landscape contractor, applicants must display a pattern of at least “four years of journey-level experience as a supervisor in the trade,” Blumehardt said.

Applicants also must pass a written examination that covers basic knowledge of the landscaping industry. The test also contains lengthy sections on business and legal aspects of landscape contracting, she said. Roberts’ previous violation weighed heavily on the decision to turn over state findings to prosecutors instead of citing him a second time, she said.

“We have the discretion to go with criminal charges if someone is found to be contracting without a license after they have already been cited,” Blumehardt said.