Crystal Gutierrez, left, and fiance, Erika Preciado, comfort each other as they look at their destroyed home following the Sandalwood fire at Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park in Calimesa in October 2019. The Sandalwood fire claimed two lives in the mobile park and destroyed 76 homes. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
A 41-year-old former dump truck driver who caused a deadly 1,000-acre blaze in Calimesa by intentionally dropping flaming debris from his rig in the middle of a Santa Ana windstorm was put on probation after admitting felony charges.
Antonio Ornelas Velazquez of Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty on Tuesday, July 23, to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of burning an inhabited structure under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
No charges were dropped from the original criminal complaint filed against Velazquez in exchange for his admissions.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Kelly certified the plea deal that calls for two years of felony probation and six months in a Sheriff’s Department work-release program in lieu of jail.
Kelly scheduled a victim-restitution hearing for Nov. 6 at the Riverside Hall of Justice, so Velazquez could be ordered to pay victims.
Velazquez was arrested in February 2021 following a lengthy investigation by Cal Fire peace officers and detectives from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“The Sandalwood fire was caused by a burning load of trash that was dumped next to dry vegetation by the trash truck that Velazquez was operating,” according to a Cal Fire statement released at the time.
At 2 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2019, an arrest warrant says, Velazquez was at the wheel of a CR&R trash truck when a fire broke out in the cargo hold as he proceeded through Calimesa.
There were fierce northeast winds blowing due to a Santa Ana windstorm that began that morning.
Velazquez pulled over on Sandalwood Drive, near Seventh Street, to determine what was burning and hesitated on what actions to take, the affidavit says. A man driving a Frito Lay truck and another motorist pulled over near the flaming dump truck and began providing recommendations.
“The Frito Lay driver warned Velazquez multiple times about the fire danger presented by the high winds,” according to the declaration. “The winds were blowing directly from the road toward the brush wildland area. He asked Velazquez not to dump his load.”
The other motorist “suggested that Velazquez drive toward a nearby freeway overpass to dump the burning load,” the affidavit stated. “Velazquez ignored the warnings and released the burning materials onto the ground.”
Santa Ana winds gusting to 40 mph quickly pushed the flames into the Villa Calimesa Mobile Home Park.
Hannah Labelle, 61, also known as James Owen McGee, and Lois Arvikson, 89, were killed as the flames swept over their properties, leaving them no time to escape.
Seventy-two structures were destroyed, and another 16 damaged, according to investigators. The blaze charred 1,011 acres before it was stopped four days later.
Lawsuits were filed against CR&R weeks afterward. It was unclear how many have been resolved.
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