Just before he was scheduled to go to trial, the driver of a crane that was rear-ended, killing a 43-year-old man, took a plea deal and a jail sentence, court records show.
Garret Langum, 22, was sentenced to 364 days in jail in exchange for pleading to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter. His commercial driver’s license was suspended, and he was given 50 hours community service and three years probation as well, authorities said.
The jail sentence allows for the option of electronic home detention, according to county prosecutors.
The day of the April 2016 crash, Langum was pulling a 40-ton mobile construction crane onto Interstate 680 in San Ramon, near Bollinger Canyon Road. He was rear-ended by Carlos Garcia-Zepeda, of Livermore, who was killed on impact.
Another driver in turn rear-ended Garcia-Zepeda’s car, according to court records.
In March 2017, Contra Costa prosecutors charged Langum with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, alleging he had irresponsibly driven into Garcia-Zepeda’s path.
The crane was to be used by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission project to convert carpool lanes from San Ramon to Walnut Creek to express lanes, authorities said.
While the criminal case was going on, Garcia-Zepeda’s family sued Langum, the construction company and the state Department of Transportation. It alleged Langum had entered the freeway “without warning” and was moving too slowly.
The suit settled this week for $100,000, according to court records.
Source: Mercury News
