SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Prosecutors filed manslaughter charges against three men after a worker was buried alive in a San Francisco trench and suffocated to death, the district attorney announced Monday.
The construction worker was inside an 8-foot-deep trench on the corner of Oak Street and Divisadero Street when it collapsed on top of him September 28, 2023.
The victim was identified by the city’s Chief Medical Examiner as Javier Romero, 25, of Alameda County.
"The trench was not properly supported, and when a vehicle drove by, it collapsed. The victim, who was buried in the resulting cave-in, died of mechanical asphyxia," prosecutors wrote.
A worker was buried by eight feet of dirt and killed in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2023. (Image courtesy SF Fire Department)
On Monday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that John Finbarr Darcy, 62, of San Francisco, John William Tobin, 39, of San Francisco, and Filiberto Poblano Perez, 52, of Richmond, were charged with involuntary manslaughter. The trio was also charged with committing workplace safety violations resulting in death of an employee.
The victim and three defendants worked for D’Arcy & Harty Construction, the DA's office said.
On the morning of the deadly cave-in, Romero was working below ground in a 2 ½-foot wide, 5-foot long, and 8-foot-deep trench as part the city's sewer tunnel rehabilitation project in the Lower Haight neighborhood.
According to the DA's office:
A Cal/OSHA inspector who reviewed the fatal incident concluded that the 8-foot-deep excavation was not properly supported, in violation of state safety regulations. The two short sides of the trench were completely unsupported, and the two long sides were only partially supported, prosecutors said.
Romero was trapped in the trench under dirt and concrete for two hours before emergency crews were able to reach his body, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
"D’Arcy & Harty, Inc. had been the subject of a safety complaint about an inadequately supported trench on another project less than three weeks before the excavation collapse that killed the victim," Jenkin's office wrote.
Darcy and Perez were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all charges. A judge released the men from custody and ordered that they surrender their passports, stay in California, and not supervise employees. They were also ordered not to communicate with witnesses or each other.
It's unclear if Tobin has entered a plea.
