Judge issues warrant in unrelated case for concrete truck company owner tied to school bus crash
The owner of a concrete pumping truck company tied to a fatal Bastrop County school bus crash on March 22 – which left a preschooler and third driver dead – was issued a warrant Monday for an unrelated 2021 misdemeanor ticket for employing an unlicensed driver, according to court records obtained by KXAN.
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – The owner of a concrete pumping truck company connected with a fatal school bus on March 22 – which left a preschooler and the driver of another vehicle dead – had a warrant issued for his arrest on Monday by a Hays County court for an unrelated 2021 misdemeanor ticket for employing an unlicensed driver, according to court records obtained by KXAN.
The office of Hays County Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 Judge John Burns issued the warrant for Francisco Martinez Jr. on Monday – the same day KXAN began requesting records related to the 2021 charge. Martinez owns FJM Concrete LLC, the company that operated the 2000 Mack concrete pumping truck that hit a Hays CISD school bus on State Highway 21 near Mustang Ridge, according to an arrest affidavit for Jerry Hernandez, the driver of the concrete truck involved in the school bus crash.
The school bus was carrying preschoolers who had gone on a zoo field trip.
Martinez has not been charged with any crimes related to the school bus crash, and his attorney did not immediately respond to the requests for comment from KXAN. The fine amount for the misdemeanor ticket was $316.
The warrant issued Monday traces back to a misdemeanor charge against Martinez, accusing him of employing an unlicensed driver of a pickup truck on Ranch to Market 12 on Oct. 22, 2021, according to the ticket. It is not clear from court paperwork which company the unlicensed driver worked for in 2021.
Burns’ office said Martinez was given until March 2022 to reply to the ticket, but that didn’t happen. A warrant for Martinez was ultimately issued Monday, more than two years later.
“We held off on warrants from 2021 and gave extra time to get citation taken care of due to Covid but are now issuing them when we have to,” according to Burns’ office. “(Martinez) could be arrested for not taking care of this citation unless he comes in to take care of it.”
Martinez’s address in the 2021 ticket matches the address related to the concrete company associated with the school bus crash, according to Secretary of State business filings.
School bus crash
Bastrop County authorities charged concrete pumping truck driver, 43-year-old Jerry Hernandez, with criminally negligent homicide on March 29. Hernandez told investigators he smoked marijuana the night before the crash and used cocaine at about 1 a.m. the morning of the collision, according to the affidavit.
A Texas Highway Patrol trooper said he learned the truck company's owner, Martinez, “had not verified the status of Mr. Hernandez's commercial driver's license or his status through the federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database before employing him as a driver,” according to Hernandez’s arrest affidavit.
“Although Mr. Martinez was unaware of Mr. Hernandez's past drug related issues, Mr. Hernandez should have been aware of his status through the clearinghouse,” according to Hernandez’s arrest affidavit.
The preschooler who died in the school bus crash was identified as Ulises Rodriguez Montoya. 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was driving a vehicle behind the school bus, also died in the incident.