Investigators say they have found the truck involved in the fatal freak accident, which left a Waterloo woman dead after a rock was thrown from a vehicle that had recently left the Ontario County Landfill.
The accident took place on August 4th, but it took investigators eight days to locate the commercial truck.
Deputies say Manuel J. Vallejo, 27, of Mount Vernon was driving the truck-trailer combination, and had just left the Ontario County Landfill in Stanley after emptying a trailer full of residential waste.
That truck was the last commercial vehicle to exit the landfill around noon prior to the landfill closing for the day, according to deputies.
A review of video footage from the landfill showed a large rock wedged between the rear driver’s side dual wheels of the trailer as the vehicle exited the scale. Video footage from an area business showed the truck leaving thereafter from the property and getting onto State Route 5.
That same footage showed the rear trailer’s mud flaps pinned up, violating New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. The investigation was reviewed by the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office and determined to be the appropriate charge.
Vallejo was issued a traffic ticket returnable to Seneca Town Court.
The accident claimed the life of Waterloo resident Barbara Amidon. She was the passenger in a westbound vehicle, which was struck by the rock that the commercial truck threw. That rock went through the windshield, striking Amidon, causing serious trauma. She died at the hospital as result of her injuries.
