OCALA, Fla. (AP) – A man with a long history of dangerous driving skidded a bus, killing eight Mexican farm workers and killing dozens more, according to an arrest report released Wednesday. He told investigators that he had smoked marijuana oil and taken prescription medication several hours before injuring him. .
Brian McLean Howard, 41, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter by driving under the influence and remains in jail without bail in Tuesday's crash. The Florida Highway Patrol said the man drove his 2001 Ford pickup truck across the center line of a two-lane road, colliding with the bus, which then ran off the road, struck a tree and overturned.
Seasonal farm workers were heading early in the morning to harvest watermelons at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Orlando in north-central Florida's Marion County. The farm is a rural area of rolling hills with numerous horse farms and thriving farms. fruit and vegetable fields.
The Mexican Consulate General in Orlando worked to assist the victims and met with them at a hotel in Gainesville. Many were taken to AdventHealth Ocala Hospital.
Juan Sabines, the Mexican consul in Orlando, told Spanish-language news media that as of Wednesday afternoon, seven employees remained hospitalized, three of them in critical condition.
Sabines said he had contacted the families of the eight workers killed in the accident.
He also said inspectors from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division are conducting on-site inspections, and consular officers are encouraging workers to anonymously call the Occupational Safety and Health Administration if they have anything to report about their employer. He said he encouraged them to do so. The Labor Department did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Sabines said he spoke to the bus driver, a 44-year-old Mexican man who also had a visa.
“What he needs right now is mental health support,” Sabines said.
State police said in the pickup truck driver's arrest report that Howard had bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech after the crash, but said he did not remember it.
The suspect told investigators that he had crashed his mother's car into a tree several days earlier while trying to avoid an animal, and that on Monday night he was smoking marijuana oil, taking two anti-seizure medications and medication for high blood pressure. He stated that he had done so. The man said he woke up about five hours later and drove to a methadone clinic where he was given daily medication to treat his chipped vertebrae, according to the affidavit.
Howard was subsequently arrested after failing several breathalyzer tests, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Howard, speaking to the judge on a conference call Wednesday from prison, said he is a self-employed painter and drywall installer with $700 in the bank and no other assets or dependents. Howard had a bandage wrapped around his head and was wearing a protective gown typically given to inmates on suicide watch. The judge denied him bail, appointed a public defender and set his next court appearance for next month.
Howard's parents did not immediately return calls seeking comment Wednesday, and the Marion County Public Defender's Office declined to comment.
Howard has at least three crashes and numerous traffic tickets dating back to 2006, including one for crossing the center line, according to Marion County court records. His license has been suspended at least three times, most recently in 2021 for receiving too many citations in one year. In 2013, he was convicted of grand larceny. A year later, his probation was revoked after he tested positive for cocaine.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that the bus was filled with 44 Mexican farm workers hired by Mexican-American farmers on H-2A visas to work on watermelon farms. Stated. Florida farms employ about 50,000 H-2A workers each year, more than any other state, according to the Florida Produce Association.
Six of the dead have been identified: Evarad Ventura Hernández, 30; Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24 years old. Alfredo Tobal Sanchez, 20 years old. Isaias Miranda Pascal, 21 years old. Jose Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27 years old. and Manuel Perez Rios (46).
Jose Ventura told Univision that Evarad Ventura Hernandez was his brother and helped him work in the United States. His brother left behind a young daughter.
“We only came in search of a better future, and now you can see what we found. We found death,” he told the Spanish-language broadcaster.
He added, sobbing. “My brother was the youngest, so I was supposed to take care of him.”
His sister, Norma Ventura Hernandez, said she was angry.
“We are completely destroyed and that is not right,” she said. “Justice be done and all these deaths not go unpunished.”
More than 20 people gathered Wednesday night for a memorial service for the victims outside the offices of the Florida Farm Workers Association in Apopka, Florida, north of Orlando. Some held white crosses with the names of those killed, while others spoke and sang in Spanish.
In a Facebook post, Cannon Farms said it would “thank everyone who has reached out and offered their condolences, assistance and prayers” to those injured in the accident. The bus was operated by Olvera Truck Harvesting Corporation, the statement said.
No one at Olvera Trucking answered the phone after the accident. The company recently announced that it is hiring temporary drivers for $14.77 an hour to bus workers to watermelon fields and then operate harvesting equipment.
Olvera will provide 43 H-2A workers to harvest watermelons at Cannon Farm this month, also at a base rate of $14.77 an hour, with transportation to and from their homes and fields, according to Department of Labor documents. I applied as promised.
The H-2A program allows U.S. employers or agencies to: Meet specific regulatory requirements Bringing foreigners into the country to fill temporary agricultural jobs. Traveling to and from the fields can be dangerous. Federal statistics show that in 2022, the most recent year, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of work-related deaths among farmworkers. They accounted for 81 of the 171 deaths.
Mexican Consul Sabines said Wednesday that Olvera's car, which the Highway Patrol described as a “retired” school bus, did not have a seat belt.
The Department of Labor announced new seat belt requirements for employment vehicles used by farm workers on temporary visas as part of worker protections effective June 28. Florida law already requires it. Seat belts for transporting farm workers When using a vehicle weighing less than 10,000 lbs. The Florida Produce Association called the new federal seat belt mandate “unrealistic.”
Advocacy groups call for stricter laws and enforcement to protect farm workers, while a GoFundMe campaign organized by the Florida Farm Workers Association to support accident victims and their families had raised 58,000 by Wednesday evening. Collected close to $100.
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Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale. Contributors include Adriana Gómez Ricon of Miami, Amy Taxin of Santa Ana, California, and AP stringer José María Alvarez of Mihuatlán in southern Oaxaca, Mexico.
