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BASTROP — The cement-truck driver charged in a collision with a Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus in an accident that killed a child and a motorist did not have a background check completed before operating the heavy pumper.
Court records obtained by the Courier reveal that Jerry Hernandez, 43, has a history of being accused of violence and illicit drug use.
Hernandez, who drove a concrete pump truck for FJM Concrete Pumping LLC of Bastrop, is charged with criminally negligent homicide in a March 22 collision on Texas 21 that claimed the life of Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, a preschooler on the bus, and University of Texas at Austin student Ryan Wallace, 33, a Bastrop motorist whose 2024 Hyundai also struck the cement pumper.
According to a probe by the state highway patrol, the concrete truck veered into a lane of oncoming traffic and collided with the school bus, which was returning from a field trip to Bastrop Zoo and was on its way to Tom Green Elementary School in Buda.
An arrest affidavit filed in connection with the accident states Hernandez told a Department of Public Safety trooper he’d used smoked marijuana several hours before the accident, used cocaine and only got three hours of sleep.
More details in connection with the case started to surface this week.
An August 2023 arrest warrant filed by Hays County Magistrate Maggie Moreno charged Hernandez with assault family violence impeding breath. According to court records, he is alleged to have choked his daughter, Hailey Hernandez, after an altercation that included his wife, Amanda Hernandez.
“While on the floor, Jerry strangled her by placing both hands around her neck,” said the legal documents.
A more recent January warrant also saw Hernandez accused of stealing and smashing his wife’s phone.
Additional reports from court filings show Hernandez had three previous positive drug tests in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
In December 2022, Hernandez reportedly tested positive for marijuana. He then tested positive for cocaine in April of last year.
“He should have been removed from performing safety-sensitive functions at this point by the company he was driving for at the time,” the legal records said.
His Texas commercial driver’s license was still eligible in Texas, as state driver’s licensing agencies are not required to downgrade CDL statuses until November 2024, according to changes in the Federal Register.
Francisco Martinez, identified in court documents as the owner of FJM Concrete LLC, the company that hired Hernandez, did not complete a background check on the driver, according to the report.
Martinez reportedly did not complete verification of Hernandez’s CDL or status through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse website, investigatory accounts state.
The report said Martinez did not know Hernandez had previous drug charges, and there were no mechanical issues with the cement truck driven on the day of the crash.
“Hernandez has a history of failed drug tests and should have been aware that operating a commercial motor vehicle with drugs in his system is prohibited by state and federal law,” said the court records.
A warrant for a blood sample was issued March 22, the day of the accident, after Hernandez initially refused to provide a voluntary specimen for analysis. The order was signed by 423rd state District Judge Chris Duggan; Hernandez was at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center.
Department of Public Safety Trooper Jacob Burlinson carried out the warrant, speaking with Hernandez in the hospital, according to officials. The man told the trooper he “smoked marijuana at approximately 10 p.m. the night before the crash,” the documents said.
Hernandez reportedly slept for only three hours, waking up at 12:30 a.m., and “admitted to consuming cocaine about 1 a.m. on the morning of the crash,” the report added.
School officials said 44 children — ages 4 to 6 — and 11 adults here headed back to school about 2 p.m. March 22 when the collision occurred.
Investigators said the cement truck traveling east on 21 drifted out of its lane and struck the school bus, driven by Aida Ogle, carrying the preschoolers and other passengers near the FM 812 intersection.
The bus tumbled onto its side, as seen in security footage provided by Hays CISD. Wallace’s vehicle was also hit by the pumper truck.
The collision sent 10 others with severe injuries to area hospitals.
On Friday, Hernandez was charged with criminally negligent homicide, a state-jail felony. A conviction is punishable by a sentence of 180 days to two years behind bars and a fine not to exceed $10,000.
Hernandez has been remanded to the Bastrop County Jail, but records do not show a bond amount being set yet.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the National Transportation Safety Board has also opened a probe into the accident.
For more on this developing story, pick up a copy of the Courier April 10.
