Thread: Hurrican bus driver hailed as hero is being held near border

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/page1/3374467

FATAL BUS CRASH
Driver hailed as hero is being held near border
By JAMES PINKERTON,, DUDLEY ALTHAUS and TERRI LANGFORD
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Rio Grande Valley Bureau

HARLINGEN - The Mexican bus driver hailed as a hero for pulling elderly patients from a horrific bus fire that claimed 23 lives south of Dallas last week was in federal custody Wednesday, undergoing questioning by immigration agents.

Juan Robles Gutiérrez, 37, was arrested Tuesday evening on immigration charges as federal officials widened their investigation into his employer, a Pharr bus company hired to evacuate Bellaire nursing-home residents Friday as Hurricane Rita bore down on the upper Texas coast. He was being held in McAllen.

Relatives of Robles, who was driving the bus when the fire broke out, said he's not to blame and remained in Texas this week to face authorities rather than flee to Mexico. But now he's behind bars and in anguish, his relatives say, waiting to see if he'll be deported.

"He's completely broken by the accident," said his brother, Rodolfo Robles. "He tried hard to rescue people, but he couldn't finish because the bus exploded. He's been very much affected emotionally."

Robles' troubles don't end with possible deportation. On Wednesday, he was named a defendant in the first lawsuit filed in the bus fire.The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Hidalgo County, accuses Robles, along with Global Limo Inc. and the nursing-home company, of negligence.

In 2002, state officials had warned Global Limo, also known as Global Tours and Charters, that it was violating some safety and maintenance regulations.

The review, in April 2002, was prompted by complaints about the way Global buses were maintained.

One of the complaints came from Donald L. Spotts of Weslaco. His letter, received by DPS in February 2002 complained that a group of senior citizens were exposed to diesel fumes in the bus they chartered to tour Corpus Christi.

"The diesel smell was very unhealthy, pungent, overpouring (sic) and many of the passengers were caughing (sic) and wheezing both on the journey up and back," Spots wrote.

Two former Global bus drivers told the Houston Chronicle the company had pressured drivers to work longer than federal transportation regulations allowed, and one said that maintenance was poor.

The company also had money troubles and declared bankruptcy in March.

Federal agents picked up Robles at Global's offices on Jackson Road in Pharr, where the journeyman bus driver lived in a travel trailer on company property.

The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he was detained for unlawful entry.

"Right now we are holding him on an administrative charge of entry without inspection, which means he snuck into the country and didn't come through a port of entry," said Alonzo Pena, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE district in San Antonio.


Back pay issue
Federal officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the inquiry is being widened to see whether Global has employed other drivers who were not legal residents.

Juan Robles, according to brother Carlos Robles, has been in the country without documents since last year and had worked for Global Limo since February. The driver, whose wife was living with him, lost his Border Crossing Card last year after it was seized by immigration agents at a port of entry, Carlos Robles said.

Carlos Robles said Global owner James H. Maples owes his brother $14,000 in back pay for work this year and last. On Tuesday, Maples gave Robles' wife, Maria de Robles Rangel, $500.

Calls to Global and company attorney Mark Cooper went unanswered late Wednesday.

In Monterrey, Mexico, where Robles and his family operate an intercity bus company called Autobuses Especiales, his brothers are worried that the longtime bus driver will be blamed for the accident. They say their brother has been distraught since the fire.

"He had the chance to go to Mexico but didn't want to go. He wanted to get this cleared up," Carlos Robles said. "He's not to blame."

He said his younger brother "tried to get out as many passengers as he could," but then some of the passengers' "oxygen tanks started to explode and he couldn't get anyone else out. The bus was completely on fire."

The two former Global bus drivers faulted the tour company, saying they were often asked to drive longer than the 10 hours permitted by federal highway regulations. One of the drivers characterized the companies maintenance practices as "bad," with drivers being asked to operate buses that were not in good condition.


Inspected in 2002
The drivers' accounts echo the findings of an April 2002 state inspection of Global, which found several deficiencies in maintenance, drivers' background investigations and over-the-road records, as well as a lack of a required drug-testing program.

Maples responded the following month with a letter indicating bus drivers had been screened for drugs, a compliance supervisor had been hired, and complete records for bus maintenance and trip inspections would be established.

"I feel sad for those people, but it was bound to happen," said Honorio Soto, a bus driver who quit the tour company two years ago. "He had poor maintenance." Soto was referring to Global President Maples, a former NFL player who has operated the Rio Grande Valley tour-bus company for many years.

"He would assign me bad buses, and we would get in a hassle because it's my responsibility, my passengers," Soto said.

A second driver, Rene Garza, said he quit working for Maples after nine months because he had trouble collecting his pay. Garza said Maples asked bus drivers to make long, out-of-state trips without enough drivers, which forced them to drive more than the 10-hour limit.

On Wednesday, the BairLaw Firm of Houston filed a lawsuit against the driver, Global Limo Inc., The Bus Bank, a Chicago-based bus broker, and Sunrise Senior Living Inc., which owns Brighton Gardens nursing home. The lawsuit accuses the four parties of negligence and asks for $5 million in actual damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

www.dallasnews.com

Bus firm had been accused of endangering elderly travelers
State received complaints 3 years before fiery accident


12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, September 29, 2005


By STEVE McGONIGLE / The Dallas Morning News


The South Texas tour company whose bus was involved in a fiery accident that killed 23 nursing home patients last week has been accused of endangering elderly passengers before, according to documents obtained Wednesday by The Dallas Morning News.

State officials received a complaint three years ago from an elderly customer alleging hazardous conditions aboard a bus operated by Global Tours, which now operates under the name Global Limo Inc.

Donald Spotts wrote in a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation that a bus used to transport him and 47 other senior citizens from Weslaco to Corpus Christi "was not up to standard roadworthy conditions in any state including Texas."

Mr. Spotts' letter and an unrelated complaint of shoddy maintenance and record-keeping by Global Tours and Charters led the Texas Department of Public Safety to conduct an inspection in April 2002 that found several regulatory violations.

Mark Cooper, an attorney for Global, could not be reached for comment.

After its review of the company in 2002, the DPS urged Global to make changes but took no enforcement action.

The company's owner, James Maples, advised the state transportation agency the month after the review that he had implemented the requested changes. Mr. Maples said in a letter to transportation officials that he had hired a compliance supervisor to oversee his bus operations.

On Friday, a Global bus ferrying 38 elderly evacuees of Hurricane Rita from Houston to Dallas burst into flames on Interstate 45 near Wilmer. Smoke and flames were seen coming from a rear wheel that had been changed about an hour earlier.

Some passengers were rescued, but others – some in wheelchairs – perished after a series of explosions reduced the bus to a scorched shell.

The cause of the accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is focusing on the bus's braking system.


Lawsuit filed

On Wednesday, the estate of an elderly woman who died in the accident filed a lawsuit in Hidalgo County alleging the death was caused by the negligence of the nursing home, the bus company broker that hired Global and the bus driver.

Ronald Bair, the Houston attorney who filed the suit, said his preliminary investigation makes it clear that the death of his client, Mary Gillette, was preventable.

"This is just about as much as you can get in terms of someone simply trying to cash in on the evacuation problem. That's literally what you've got," he said.

While the circumstances surrounding Mr. Spotts' complaint about Global did not result in a loss of life, they do have ominous similarities to last week's tragedy.

The DPS released Mr. Spotts' letter, along with two other complaints lodged against Global about the same time, after a request from The News.

Mr. Spotts could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The resident of a Weslaco trailer park, then 69, said in his 2002 letter that he and other elderly neighbors had contracted with Global to take them on a tour of Corpus Christi. A noxious smell permeated the bus throughout the trip, he wrote.

"The diesel smell was unhealthy, pungent, overpouring and many of the passengers were coughing both on the journey up and back," he wrote.

After the first leg of the trip, Mr. Spotts wrote, four passengers decided to take alternate transportation rather than get back on the Global bus.

Mr. Spotts suggested that neither the company nor state officials were performing their obligations under the law, and he demanded enforcement action.

"If we are in any way in harm's way because of medical concerns now and later, all responsible parties need to be reprimanded," he wrote.


Vehicle problems alleged

Mr. Spotts' letter was undated but stamped as received by the transportation department Feb. 26, 2002. An unrelated complaint about Global was made to the DPS on Feb. 20, 2002, from a woman identified only as Sara Martinez.

Her letter depicted a company in sharp deterioration. Buses leaked oil and air, she wrote, and only two vehicles were in good condition.

Some buses lacked inspection stickers, and some drivers were working without valid licenses, she said.

"In short, the whole outfit needs a good going over," Ms. Martinez wrote.

Another complaint was received by DPS on March 25, 2002. The complainant, identified as Ross Gunning, said he had seen a Global bus "swerving all over the road."

Both the bus mentioned by Mr. Gunning and a second vehicle listed by Mr. Spotts remain in Global's inventory, according to online records of the state Transportation Department. It is not known whether either bus is still being operated.

Johnny Partain, a McAllen businessman who has been battling Mr. Maples over a debt for most of the last decade, said he believes that most of Global's buses are not running or are undergoing repairs.

The bus that burst into flames south of Dallas was leased from a company in Maryland, an employee of the company told the McAllen Monitor last week.

Mr. Partain said he thinks the bus is one he has seen on Global's lot since May. He said the bus carried the name Century McMynn Leasing on the side. Witnesses at the accident scene said the bus carried the name McMynn Leasing.

Century McMynn, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, leases buses that are used by tour operators across Canada and the United States. The company could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Despite Mr. Maples' assurances to state regulators of compliance, he and eight of his drivers continued to be found in violation of traffic laws and federal motor carrier regulations by police and highway patrol officers in Texas and at least two other states.


Failed inspections

Five times between July 2003 and August 2005, records show, inspections of Global drivers resulted in drivers or vehicles being temporarily ordered off the road.

Mr. Maples filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2005 to prevent a creditor from assuming control of the company.

The bus that Mr. Maples used to transport the Houston-area nursing home residents had been without a valid state registration since July, the state transportation agency said.

While a border crossing card does not permit it's holder to work in the United States the driver does not seem at fault for the bus' accident. It is as part of our country's over active litigatory system that Juan Robles Guttierez is among the defendants.

Originally Posted by Richard

While a border crossing card does not permit it's holder to work in the United States the driver does not seem at fault for the bus' accident. It is as part of our country's over active litigatory system that Juan Robles Guttierez is among the defendants.

Good points, Richard!

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/natio ... igate.html

October 2, 2005
Suits Filed in Bus Fire That Killed 23 Storm Evacuees
By THAYER EVANS
HOUSTON, Oct. 1 - Three lawsuits have been filed in the past week stemming from a bus fire that killed 23 residents of an assisted-living center and nursing home as they fled the approach of Hurricane Rita.

Named in the suits was Global Limo Inc., which operated the 1998 Motor Coach Industries bus that was involved in the incident, said a clerk with the Hidalgo County District Court, where the lawsuits were filed.

A call to Global's lawyer, Mark Cooper of San Antonio, was not returned. A spokeswoman for the Bus Bank, the Chicago charter-bus broker that the nursing home contacted for service, said the company's chief executive, William R. Maulsby, was unavailable for comment.

The bus was transporting residents and employees of Brighton Gardens in Bellaire. It caught fire and was rocked by explosions on Sept. 23 on a highway south of Dallas. Investigators are not sure what caused the bus fire, but they are certain that oxygen canisters in the passenger compartment and in cargo holds exploded.

Texas officials said last week that the bus had an expired registration but was allowed back on the road under a waiver signed by Gov. Rick Perry, which was intended to provide as many vehicles as possible for the evacuation and relief effort.

One of the lawsuits was filed on behalf of an 85-year-old victim, Mary Gillette, and seeks damages from Global and other defendants, including the bus driver, Juan Robles Gutiérrez, 37, who is being held on immigration charges.

That suit contends that Mr. Gutiérrez does not speak English, leaving passengers unable to communicate with him, and that he failed to conduct checks on the "faulty brake system and worn tires" of the bus.

Jamison Gosselin, a spokesman for Sunrise Senior Living, which owns Brighton Gardens, said the company was "disappointed to be included in any lawsuit."

Jamison Gosselin, a spokesman for Sunrise Senior Living, which owns Brighton Gardens, said the company was "disappointed to be included in any lawsuit."

I am sure he was.

I should have been doing more research on this story, since it was as far as I know the biggest human tragedy related to hurricane Rita. What makes it even more disgusting is the fact it has an illegal immigrant angle tied to it.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... an/3372863

Sept. 28, 2005, 1:21AM

Drivers have history of citations
Nine operators, including owner, ticketed since '02
By JAMES PINKERTON and TERRI LANGFORD
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

PHARR - As federal investigators sifted through records kept by the company at the center of a bus fire that killed 23 residents of a Bellaire retirement center and nursing home, details that emerged Tuesday showed at least nine company drivers have been stopped and ticketed since 2002.

ADVERTISEMENT

Violations involving Pharr-based Global Limo Inc., according to Texas Department of Public Safety records, included such offenses as drivers operating buses without proper lighting and inspection stickers, failing to keep fire extinguishers aboard buses and driving buses with worn tire treads.

Keith Holloway, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the bus explosion, confirmed Tuesday that a fire extinguisher was aboard the bus. It was unclear whether it had been used to fight the blaze.

DPS records showed that among the drivers cited were Global Limo Inc. owner James H. Maples and Juan Robles Gutierrez, who was at the wheel of the 1991 bus Friday when it burst into flames south of Dallas on Interstate 45.

Maples, who could be seen Tuesday outside his Pharr office with three federal investigators who appeared to be examining a bus, was ticketed Nov. 11, 2003, for violating a license restriction.

DPS records also show he failed to have a driver's log and failed to display an insurance certificate on the bus, which had an inoperable left tail light.

Robles, who had been stopped three times by DPS troopers between February and August this year, was found to have 11 violations and one ticket for speeding. His violations include failing to maintain a proper driving log and driving a bus with defective lighting.

Robles, who listed his home address as Global Limo's business address, also listed an address near Monterrey, Mexico.

Robles has been cooperating with Dallas County Sheriff's Office investigators and has not been charged in the accident. Efforts to reach him Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The 37-year-old driver has a Mexican driver's license which, under the North American Free Trade Agreement, allows him to legally operate a commercial vehicle in the United States. He does not have a Texas license.

The Brighton Gardens facility in Bellaire hired Global Limo, a company it had used before, to relocate residents and staff to Dallas.

Facility officials made the decision to evacuate as Hurricane Rita moved toward Houston and contacted Bus Bank, a Chicago-based charter broker, to find an available bus company.

Calls to Bus Bank on Monday and Tuesday were not returned.

Shortly after the fire, a check of records showed the bus Robles was driving had a Texas vehicle registration that expired last July.

Maples declined to talk to a reporter Tuesday at his office. Jenny Hollis, Maples' daughter, referred all questions to the company's attorneys.

Kelly McGinnis, an attorney for Maples, defended the company's safety history.

"He has been operating the business in reasonably good condition," McGinnis said, adding there had been no major incidents before the fire.

"Everyone is sad this happened and feels terrible," McGinnis said. "These poor people have been killed. We're very regretful and wish this accident never had occurred."

Terri Langford reported from Houston.







http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... cs/3379243


Oct. 3, 2005, 6:48AM



Risks great for migrant workers
Immigration experts say bus driver's hurdles are common in South Texas
By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

PHARR - They harvest the crops and build shopping malls and upscale homes. They tend cattle, work in restaurants and even drive tour buses.

ADVERTISEMENT

But for the vast, underground work force of undocumented immigrants laboring along the Texas-Mexico border, and across the nation, the risks of being in the country illegally are great.

These "indocumentados," as they're called, are frequently cheated by their employers, who often threaten to turn them in to immigration agents to avoid paying their wages. Others are injured, maimed or killed in work-related accidents at hazardous jobs.

That harsh reality came into sharp focus on Tuesday when immigration agents arrested Juan Robles Gutierrez, 37, a veteran bus driver from Monterrey who was behind the wheel of a charter bus that caught fire south of Dallas on Sept. 23, the day before Hurricane Rita made landfall. The blaze killed 23 people who were being evacuated from a Bellaire nursing home and injured the bus driver and 22 passengers. Witnesses said Robles helped pull many passengers to safety.

The driver's family members concede Robles was here illegally â€â€

www.dallasnews.com


Evacuee bus had wrong plates

Vehicle in fatal fire was registered in Oklahoma to Canadian company


12:00 AM CDT on Friday, September 30, 2005


By STEVE McGONIGLE and JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News


The license plates on a bus in which 23 hurricane evacuees burned to death last week were from another vehicle, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department reported on Thursday.

Rather than being registered to Global Limo Inc. of Pharr, the bus actually was registered in Oklahoma to a bus-leasing company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Normally, that would send up a red flag," said Paul J. Paterniti, a claims examiner with the Ohio-based Lancer Insurance Co., adding that he did not want to comment on the specifics of this case.

A Sheriff's Department accident report did not give a reason for why the wrong plates were on the bus, but the Texas Department of Transportation has said the bus was not properly registered and should not have been on the road.

Global Limo and the San Antonio attorney representing the company could not be reached for comment.

"They wanted to use that bus, and it wasn't properly registered, and they didn't want to pay to have it properly registered," said Bill Lute, who investigates bus fires for insurance companies.

The Sheriff's Department released its report on the accident without discussing what may have caused the bus to catch fire, killing 23 of the 38 elderly nursing home patients from the Houston area.

The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate, although spokesmen have indicated that the inquiry is focused on the bus's braking system and rear wheels, which caught fire before a series of explosions went off.

Sgt. Don Peritz, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said the focus of the investigation was to try to determine why a rear wheel locked up.


Warning alleged

A Houston woman said Thursday that one of the elderly bus passengers who was rescued told her that the bus driver was warned when he fixed a flat tire before the accident that something was wrong with the brakes.

The fire may have started after a rear tire shredded, causing the wheel to be ground down onto the pavement, producing sparks, sources said.

Oxygen tanks used by the patients on the bus exploded, feeding the fire and hindering rescue efforts.

A Houston attorney who has filed a lawsuit against Global said Thursday that her investigation also showed that the driver was warned of a maintenance problem.

"It had to do with brakes and heat friction resulting in fire," Amanda Hilty said.

Kenneth Brown, owner of K&S Tire Towing & Recovery in Corsicana, said one of his mechanics helped change a tire on the bus two hours before the accident. But he said his employee did not notice any obvious malfunctions or maintenance issues.

One police officer from nearby Rice and a representative of the state transportation agency were present when the tire was repaired, Mr. Brown said. He said nothing his employee did contributed to the accident.

"Bolting a spare on a bus didn't cause the problem," Mr. Brown said. "If the lug nuts are still on that tire, we did our job. Investigators have told me they are."


'Coffin on wheels'

A second Houston attorney who filed a lawsuit for the family of a passenger who survived the accident accused the nursing home and a Chicago bus brokerage that hired Global of taking advantage of a crisis.

Mark Lanier said the bus was unregistered and had been "mothballed" before being hired to take his client and the other patients from Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire to nursing homes in the Dallas area.

"The net result is you basically have a coffin on wheels," Mr. Lanier said Thursday.

Mr. Lanier's lawsuit names The Bus Bank, Sunshine Senior Living and the driver, Juan Robles Gutierrez, as defendants. He did not name Global Limo because companies in bankruptcy cannot be sued without court approval.

The owner of Global, James Maples, filed for federal bankruptcy protection in February to prevent the company from being taken over by a creditor.

Federal and state records also show the company has a driver safety record among the lowest of any bus carrier in the nation. Drivers have been found in violation of federal safety regulations at least 11 times in the last two years.


Driver in custody

Mr. Robles, who was driving on a Mexican driver's license, was taken into custody by federal immigration authorities Tuesday night for being in the country illegally, a spokeswoman for the agency said Thursday.

Nina Pruneda would not say where Mr. Robles, 37, was being held or whether he might be charged with anything other than administrative violations.

"He remains in our custody until further notice," Ms. Pruneda said.

The license plate found on the burned bus belonged on a 1991 Van Hool model bus that the state transportation agency lists as one of the 10 buses that Global has registered. The bus in the accident was a 1998 Motor Coach Industries model.

According to the sheriff's report, the MCI bus is owned by Robert John and Joanne Jacqueline McMynn, who listed an address in Ada, Okla. The plates that belonged on the bus were also from Oklahoma, the report said.

Mr. McMynn, who is president of Century McMynn Leasing, said from his home office in Vancouver on Thursday that he had been advised not to comment.

The bus had seating for 55 passengers. On the day of the accident, it was hauling 38 patients, six staff members from the nursing home and the driver, Mr. Robles.

A source close to the investigation said those passengers who escaped were seated near the front of the bus.

There seemed to be a cluster of bodies near the center in the aisle, and from there back the dead were found in or near their seats.

About half of the people who died had problems moving because of health problems, the source said.






http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/12792073.htm

Posted on Sat, Oct. 01, 2005

Gary Van Etten

Bus fire investigation focuses on rear wheel

By Melissa Sanchez

Special to the Star-Telegram


DALLAS - A fire that engulfed a 1998 Motor Coach Industries bus on Interstate 45 last month is believed to have begun near the right rear wheel, possibly because of a wheel-bearing problem, federal investigators said Friday.

The fire and explosion Sept. 23 south of Dallas killed 23 hurricane evacuees aboard the bus, most of whom were elderly residents of Brighton Gardens nursing home in Bellaire, a suburb of Houston.

National Transportation Safety Board officials said Friday at a news conference that they still do not know what caused the fire, and they may not for about a year. Investigations have focused on the brakes and a rear tire.

The right rear tire had been changed by a tow truck driver and a construction worker in Corsicana before the fire, officials said. Witnesses told police that sparks were flying from the wheel, which was worn down to the hub and "glowing red hot," said Gary Van Etten, an NTSB investigator.

Van Etten confirmed that a hole was found in the tire, "typical of a tire that is not sliding correctly on the roadway."

Some of the 18 oxygen tanks the bus was carrying -- seven in the cargo bunk and 11 aboard the bus -- may have contributed to the blaze, NTSB officials said. The oxygen was stored about 9 feet from the rear wheel.

An NTSB team, specializing in areas such as motor carriers, vehicles and human survival techniques, will evaluate and analyze the wreckage.

The results of the Texas Department of Public Safety's inspection of the bus should be available next week, DPS spokesman Monty Dial said.

DPS inspectors have also found that the bus's license plates belonged to a different vehicle, a 1991 Van Hool model bus, also being used by Global Limo Inc. of Pharr, the charter company. The registration sticker was from Oklahoma but had expired in 2004, Dial said.

It is not uncommon for companies to register vehicles in states with lower registration fees, NTSB officials said.

Dial said the bus was operating under a waiver issued by Gov. Rick Perry. But the letter Perry wrote to the transportation commissioner allowed vehicles used for relief and recovery to operate with expired registration -- not with safety inspection issues.

"The letter was not issued until four hours after the accident occurred, and it specifically states that safety requirements are not waived," said Ted Royer, a governor's spokesman.

Officials believe that the bus, which James Maples operated since May, was illegally in service before transporting evacuees, Van Etten said.

Documents from DPS show at least two complaints about the company's unsafe bus conditions before the blaze. In February 2002, a hand-written complaint alleges that the company buses often "run without plate and inspection stickers," and that all but two buses have oil and air leaks.

That April, a DPS review showed multiple violations including a discrepancy in maintenance records. Maples reported that brake inspections were done at the Pharr facility. But he did not have the brake inspector's qualifications on file.

"Mr. Maples was strongly advised that Global Tours must comply immediately with all requirements of the regulations especially since their business is transporting passengers," the report stated.

Dial said officials were unaware of the 11 violations and two consumer complaints in Global Limo's history until after the fire.

The bus was owned by a leasing company in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was leased to a company in Maryland that subleased it to Global Limo, officials said. The charter company had the minimum $5 million liability insurance on the bus, officials said.

Juan Robles Gutierrez, the 37-year-old bus driver, was still being held on an administrative immigration charge in a South Texas facility, Dallas Sheriff's Department Sgt. Don Peritz said. Robles is expected to remain in the U.S. center throughout the bus investigation, he said.







http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/ ... tate02.txt


Bus company operator has troubled past

By David KoenigM
Associated Press

DALLAS - The operator of the company whose bus caught fire last week, killing 23 elderly passengers, has spent years fighting state tax officials and owners of other businesses, culminating in filing for bankruptcy this year.

Those who have been owed money by James H. Maples say failing to pay bills is part of his character, and that the former pro football player intimidates people to get his way.

Longtime friends, including his pastor, see a different Maples - one who is hardworking, generous and kind. They say he is agonizing over the Sept. 23 fire near Dallas that killed Hurricane Rita evacuees from Houston.

Federal and state investigators are studying whether the fire was caused by bad brakes on the bus, operated by Global Limo Inc., of Pharr in South Texas. State officials warned three years ago that the company failed to keep adequate records on brake maintenance.

Maples declined to be interviewed, and his lawyer did not return calls.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Maples dabbled in a series of businesses including real estate, clothing and one-hour photos. He has been involved in at least 12 corporations, eight of which ended because of tax problems, according to records at the Texas Secretary of State's office.




Maples has spent more than 20 years in the bus business. His companies, under several names, have shuttled seniors to gambling destinations, children to field trips and fans to Dallas Cowboys games.

Global Limo consists of Maples, an assistant, a handful of drivers and a fleet of older buses operating out of a small, low-slung office building a few miles from the Mexican border.

Signs of strain on the business have been showing for several years. A truck shop in McAllen stopped performing maintenance on Global's buses four years ago after a dispute over $4,500 in unpaid bills, said shop owner Arturo Martinez Sr.

Global owns nine buses, which are pledged to Texas State Bank as collateral for loans, but several don't run, according to testimony in Maples' bankruptcy case. The company occasionally leases other buses.

Olivia Lopez and her husband, Rafael, a truck driver, leased a bus to Global in 2002, but she said Maples stopped paying the $5,000 monthly bill after a couple months. Gloria Lopez said she went to Global's offices to ask for the money.

"He was extremely rude, outright nasty," Ms. Lopez said of the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Maples.

"I'm barely 5 feet tall, and he yelled at me," she said. "I wasn't frightened - I didn't think he was going to attack me - but I was very mad that he abused the situation. I was a woman, much smaller than him, and that's how he got his way. He got me out of his office."

She hired a driver to take the bus off Global's lot. By that time, the couple had fallen behind on their payments and lost the $100,000 bus.

Around that time, Maples also fell behind in salary to his office employee Ricardo Luna, who said he helped sell tours and handled administrative duties. Luna said in the last two years he received only half his promised $24,000 annual salary.

"I asked him in January when I would be paid, and he said, 'I don't know; probably by March,"' Luna said. "I quit. "

A McAllen man, Johnny Ray Partain, claims Maples defrauded him in the purchase of a $30,000 bus in 1997. Partain won a court judgment of $93,000 but has been frustrated in attempts to collect and take over Global Limo.

Partain testified in court in May that he had driven several of Global's buses and considered one of them - not the one that caught fire - to have dangerously bad brakes. He said Maples didn't spend enough on maintenance.

Despite their seven-year legal battle, Partain said Maples has an engaging side.

"He's very personable, but he's going to take care of his interests first," Partain said. "I don't think he's evil. I think he's a just a bad businessman."

Global Limo's 2003 gross revenue was $1.24 million but it lost $118,805, according to tax records from Maples' bankruptcy case. (Records show that as of July, the company had not filed returns for 2004 or 2002 but had $1.16 million in receipts last year.)

In the past 18 months, the company has had at least three liens totaling more than $24,000 placed by the Internal Revenue Service and the state.

Within the past few weeks, the company was using a credit card belonging to Maples' daughter to buy fuel so Global could send buses to New Orleans to evacuate Hurricane Katrina victims. Global has charged the federal government $48,930 for evacuation rides.

Global Limo, however, was not part of the bankruptcy filing in February by Maples, 64, and his second wife, Virginia Kathleen Maples, 46. The couple listed liabilities of $706,976 and assets of $522,610, mostly a home in McAllen and a house on six acres in his hometown of Mount Vernon, Texas, that he bought shortly before seeking protection from creditors.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

www.themonitor.com



Pharr bus operator faces $30M suit
September 30, 2005
Marc B. Geller
The Monitor


PHARR â€â€

www.dallasnews.com

Bus owner contributed to Perry, Democrat says
Aide denies governor waived rules, let vehicle operate before crash


12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, October 6, 2005

By STEVE McGONIGLE / The Dallas Morning News


A South Texas Democratic Party leader said Wednesday that he is concerned that political favoritism might have contributed to last month's fiery bus accident near Dallas in which 23 elderly hurricane evacuees died.

Juan Maldonado, chairman of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party, said he wondered whether contributions the bus company's owner made to Republican campaign committees led Gov. Rick Perry to allow the bus that burned to be operating.

"I'd hate for politics to be involved in a tragedy like this," Mr. Maldonado said in a statement released by his office in Pharr. He was reported to be traveling in Mexico and unavailable for further comment, his spokesman said.

According to federal campaign records, James Maples and his company, Global Limo Inc. of Pharr, contributed more than $11,250 to the Republican National Committee and Republican National Congressional Committee from April 2002 to June 2004.

Mr. Maldonado's statements drew a sharp response from Kathy Walt, the governor's chief spokeswoman.

"Mr. Maldonado should be ashamed of himself for politicizing a tragic accident," Ms. Walt said. "His comments show an abysmal ignorance of this process."

Ms. Walt said she did not know whether the governor knew Mr. Maples. But she said Mr. Maples' political donations had nothing to do with a waiver Mr. Perry issued to resupply areas hit by Hurricane Rita.

"This bus was on the road before Governor Perry's waiver," Ms. Walt said. "No one – no bus, no truck – no one had to go proactively apply for a waiver."

Mr. Maples' attorney, Mark Cooper, could not be reached for comment.

The Global bus that burned Sept. 23 while transporting 38 elderly patients from a Houston-area nursing home was operating without valid state registration and had the wrong license plates, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

Federal and state investigators have blamed the accident on faulty wheel bearings, which caused a rear tire to catch fire. The bus driver, Juan Robles Gutierrez, had only a Mexican driver's license. He is being detained on immigration charges.

The hiring of Global was arranged by the Bus Bank, a Chicago brokerage, according to Sunrise Senior Living, operator of Brighton Gardens nursing home.

Global reported to a bankruptcy judge last month that it provided two buses to the Bus Bank for a Houston-to-Dallas trip. The company also said it billed the Federal Emergency Management Agency $48,930 for three buses in early September.

Federal safety officials said last week that FEMA had hired the Bus Bank to provide buses for the nursing home patients. Officials said they are still trying to find any contracts between FEMA and the Bus Bank and between the Bus Bank and Global.

Mr. Maples also gave $500 in February 2004 to a Democratic judicial candidate in Hidalgo County, and his company earned $2,345 from the state Democratic Party in October 2000. Mr. Maldonado said the party hired a Global bus and it broke down.




http://www.themonitor.com


State report: Bus involved in deadly fire had defective brakes
October 06, 2005
Marc B. Geller
The Monitor


PHARR â€â€