Construction company CEO arrested in day laborer's death
Source: San Jose Mercury News
Nearly three years after a day laborer was crushed to death by a dirt wall at a Milpitas construction site, the CEO of the Fremont-based company in charge of the project was arrested Monday at the San Francisco airport on a $1 million warrant.
Richard Liu, 52, flew in from China to defend himself against involuntary manslaughter charges resulting from Raul Zapata Mercado's death, Liu's lawyer said Monday.
Mercado, 38, a farmer from Zacatecas, Mexico, who emigrated to the Bay Area after a drought ruined his crops, died in January 2012 when a rain-saturated 12-foot dirt wall on Calveras Ridge collapsed, crushing his skull. Liu is a real-estate agent whose small company, U.S.-Sino Investment, was building a 5,000-square-foot mansion on the hillside property.
This summer, a grand jury indicted Liu -- who was living and working in China at the time of the accident -- as well as project manager Dan Luo and the construction company for causing the death. If Liu is convicted of involuntary manslaughter, he would face a maximum sentence of four years in county jail. The company also could be fined $1.5 million if it is found guilty of violating separate labor code charges.
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_26856420/fremont-ceo-jailed-after-flying-from-china