No charges in death of Modesto worker. District attorney declines to prosecute
Modesto will not be criminally charged in the 2018 electrocution of a city worker.
While California’s Bureau of Investigations referred its inquiry into the death to local prosecutors to consider charges against the city and one of its supervisors, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute.
Electrician assistant Tyrone Hairston, 30, and two city electricians were installing a streetlight pole at Roselle and Floyd avenues April 9, 2018, when Hairston was electrocuted.
The Bureau of Investigations is part of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, better known as Cal/OSHA, and conducts investigations when there is a death. The bureau refers its cases to prosecutors if it determines the law has been violated.
The bureau cited a section of the state Labor Code that says an employer or supervisor can be criminally charged for violating “any occupational safety or health standard, order, or special order ... and that violation caused death to any employee .... .”
Modesto’s electrical safety program states employees need to maintain a distance of at least 10 feet from high-voltage power lines.
The Labor Code adds that “the employer or employee (supervisor) may also be punished by a fine not exceeding $100,000 or a fine not exceeding $250,000 in conjunction with any imprisonment.” The imprisonment ranges from a year in jail to as much as three years in prison.
The District Attorney’s Office provided The Bee with its January 2021 memo outlining its decision not to charge the city and electrical supervisor Rodney Nelson after its review of the BOI investigation.
The Bee asked about the status of the investigation after Public Works Director Bill Sandhu claimed that one of Hairston’s former co-workers had threatened to kill him as Sandhu walked downtown May 24.
Modesto sought and was granted a workplace violence restraining order in Superior Court against former city electrician Allen Garan in June. The city terminated the employment of Garan and the other co-worker, Ricardo Lacerda, after its own investigations of the electrocution. Nelson retired from the city.
No high-voltage rated gloves
Hairston and his two co-workers were using a boom to install the streetlight pole. As the crew rotated the pole into place, its arm touched a high-voltage power line. Hairston, who was holding the pole at its base, was electrocuted.
The city’s reviews found many safety shortcomings. For instance, Hairston wore cloth gloves and not high-voltage rated ones, which was a factor in his death. City electricians received only on-the-job training in installing streetlight poles, and the city did not require them to be certified to operate cranes and similar equipment.
One review found wide disparities in safety training among city departments. In the aftermath of Hairston’s death, Modesto has allocated more resources citywide to employee safety.
In deciding not to prosecute Modesto and Nelson, the District Attorney’s Office memo states there was no obvious danger when the crew started installing the streetlight pole.
“Mr. Nelson visited the site in the past and believed the overhead wires were high enough to avoid any risk of electrocution,” according to the memo. “The (city) investigation showed that the distance between the line and the pole was 10.5 feet apart and that the employees understood that they should not approach within 10 feet of an overhead power line.”
The memo states Nelson — who was not at the job site — believed employees were aware of the city’s electrical safety program rule, which requires them not to come within 10 feet of high-voltage power lines. (The memo cites one of the city’s investigations for details of the incident.)
View obscured by sun
But the memo states Hairston’s co-workers did not have a clear view because of the glare of the sun. “On the date of the incident, the victim’s co-workers admitted that they did not have a proper view to determine if the pole was cleared or not,” according to the memo.
The memo says prosecutors also considered a manslaughter charge for Nelson but based on the facts of the case did not recommend filing that charge.
When reached by phone, Nelson said he could not comment.
Cal/OSHA also investigated and cited and fined Modesto $39,750. The city appealed, and the penalty was reduced in August 2021 to $23,550, which the city paid. The city also spent $18,500 in legal costs in its appeal.
The District Attorney’s Office provided The Bee with its memo in response to the newspaper filing a request through the California Public Records Act.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Zahner stated in a letter to the newspaper that while the memo is exempt from disclosure, “given the age of the case and the unusual circumstances of the matter, we have concluded that in this case we will release the document to supply clarity regarding our review and conclusions.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2022 at 10:33 AM.
