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Drivers face deportation hearings
BY LAWRENCE LATANE III
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, July 18, 2006


A trash-truck driver who allegedly ran a King and Queen County sheriff's vehicle off the highway was one of two truck drivers being held yesterday for deportation hearings.

One driver's visa had expired and the other presented a forged Ecuadorian driver's license, said investigator William R. Balderson, who was a passenger in the unmarked sport utility vehicle that was forced off the road.

The incident took place in dense fog Saturday about 4 a.m. on state Route 14, several miles west of a curve where two county residents have died in head-on collisions with trash-hauling tractor trailers in the past two years.

Frustrated county residents are raising concerns about highway safety as the county Board of Supervisors considers a proposal to allow BFI/Allied Waste Services of North America to enlarge its commercial landfill in the county.

The trucks were going to the landfill.

Residents told the supervisors last week that Route 14 is too narrow and dangerous to accommodate the extra 20 trucks per day the expansion would require. Currently, between 150 to 175 trucks a day bring garbage to the landfill.

Two garbage haulers have run off the notoriously winding Route 14 since May.

Balderson said he was riding with Deputy E.S. McKenney when their eastbound vehicle met a westbound tractor-trailer carrying trash. It was taking up most of their eastbound lane.

"We jerked it to right to avoid hitting it," Balderson said. "He was still on our side of the road when he passed us."

Balderson said McKenney turned the Blazer around to pursue the truck and fell behind two other garbage tractor-trailers that were also "driving down the middle of the road" on the way to the BFI landfill.

The officers stopped all three trucks and discovered that two of the drivers had no valid driver's licenses and appeared to be in the U.S. illegally, Balderson said.

He said all three drivers are brothers who live in Union City, N.J., and were driving for the Zeus trucking company out of New Jersey.

The deputies charged all three with reckless driving and detained two:

Walter G. Herrera, who also was charged with driving a commercial vehicle after being disqualified. Balderson said New Jersey revoked his license when his visa expired.

Oswaldo F. Herrera Zapata, who was charged with driving without a license and possession of a fictitious license. The document appeared to be handmade and pasted to a plastic grocery-store customer card, Balderson said.

The third driver, Javier Alozada Herrera, who had a New Jersey driver's license, was released.

The deputies detained Walter Herrera and Zapata on the advice of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, Balderson said.

Walter Herrera is no stranger to county authorities. Balderson said he has been charged on three occasions since last August, with operating defective equipment, driving with a suspended or revoked license, stopping on the highway and assault and battery.

Balderson said the last incident stemmed from a fight with another truck driver at the landfill.


Contact staff writer Lawrence Latané III at llatane@timesdispatch.com or (804) 333-3461.