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BASTROP — The driver of the cement pumper that claimed the lives of a child and a University of Texas student contradicted himself when recounting the March 22 incident, according to a report by the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office.
In an affidavit obtained by the Elgin Courier, several reports accounted by Texas Department of Safety troopers, Sheriff’s Office deputies and Bastrop County Police officers state the Jerry Hernandez, 43, swerved into the opposite lane and struck the side of a Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus, sending it tumbling onto its side.
Hernandez initially stated he veered off when an SUV about two car-lengths in front of him suddenly braked.
“This account of the crash sequence is not supported by witness statements, or the video retrieved from the school bus,” said the court documents.
The Hays CISD security footage shows there were no vehicles traveling in the area ahead of Hernandez prior to the crash.
A separate report obtained by the San Antonio Express news team states the Hernandez went on to tell a Caldwell County deputy that he “fell asleep and that is why the collision occurred.”
In the arrest affidavit filed in connection with the accident Hernandez admitted to a Department of Public Safety trooper that he smoked marijuana several hours before the accident, used cocaine and only got three hours of sleep.
On Friday, Hernandez was charged with criminally negligent homicide for the deaths of Ulises Rodriguez Montoya,5, and Ryan Wallace, 33, 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 yet show a set bond amount.
Meanwhile, according to reports, the National Transportation Safety Board has also opened a probe into the accident.
