A Hays County court has issued an arrest warrant for Francisco Martinez Jr., owner of FJM Concrete LLC, tied to a tragic school bus crash that claimed the lives of a preschooler and a motorist. he warrant, unrelated to the crash, stems from a 2021 misdemeanor ticket for employing an unlicensed driver. The issuing of the warrant coincided inquiry into the 2021 charge against Martinez, as reported by KXAN.
The original ticket alleges that Martinez allowed an unlicensed driver to operate a pickup truck on Oct. 22, 2021. He was given until March 2022 to address the matter, but did not, leading to the delayed issuance of the arrest warrant this Monday. The office of Hays County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4 Judge John Burns remarked, "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." Martinez could face arrest if he fails to resolve this citation.
Meanwhile, details have emerged about the driver of the concrete pump truck, Jerry Hernandez, who was involved in the March 22 crash. Hernandez has a history of run-ins with the law dating back to 2006, including a charge for assault and criminal mischief in 2023, according to CBS Austin. Following the accident, Hernandez admitted to using cocaine and smoking marijuana before driving the truck that collided with the school bus.
Bastrop County authorities have charged Hernandez with criminally negligent homicide. It's also been discovered that his employer, Martinez, had not verified Hernandez's commercial driver’s license or checked his status through the federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database before employing him as a driver. Regarding the oversight, a Texas Highway Patrol trooper asserted in Hernandez's arrest affidavit that "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," in a statement obtained by KXAN.
The tragic incident took the life of preschooler Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was driving behind the school bus at the time of the crash. With Hernandez's troubling criminal history now in the spotlight, future court proceedings and potential civil suits could significantly impact both him and potentially the company at large.
