SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — The owner of a construction company out of Vail pleaded guilty in connection with a Breckenridge trench collapse in 2021 that killed one worker.
Peter Dillon, 54, of Gypsum, owner of the now-defunct A4S LLC, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Class 4 felony, on Thursday. He turned himself in on Jan. 25 after a Summit County judge issued an arrest warrant for him two days prior, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).
Marlon Alfredo Diaz, 23, an employee of A4S Construction, died in the trench collapse.
The incident happened on Nov. 16, 2021. That afternoon, emergency personnel with Red, White and Blue Fire responded to 206 Sallie Barber Road in the Breckenridge area. Once at the scene, firefighters began to work to extricate the two people who had been buried. The effort continued for several hours.
According to Red, White and Blue Fire, a contractor was installing utilities for a new housing development in the area where the collapse happened.
Two workers barely escaped and a third person had fatal injuries.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration began an investigation after the rescue efforts concluded.
According to The Denver Post, OSHA investigators found that other trenches on the project had caved in on previous occasions, and that A4S Construction, the employer, allegedly “refused to install trench protection systems, exposing workers to serious hazards.”
Dillon was cited on May 13, 2022 after OSHA determined that the worker had died when a trench caved in around him as he installed residential sewer pipes. The trench collapsed due to "deteriorating conditions at the project, which A4S LLC could have prevented by using legally required trench protection systems," OSHA said.
OSHA issued three willful citations to A4S LLC for "not ensuring the excavation was inspected by a competent person, failing to instruct employees on the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and not having a trench protective system in place," it stated. In addition, investigators issued a citation for not having a safe means of egress within 25 lateral feet of employees working in a trench. The citations — one was $14,502 and three were $145,027 each — totaled a penalty of $449,583 and put the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, according to OSHA.
OSHA recommended criminal charges against Dillon to the 5th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Dillon agreed to forfeit any future ownership or management position for a company that was involved in trenching or excavation, or oversight of workplace safety and health.
OSHA Regional Administrator Jennifer S. Rous in Denver said this tragedy should serve as a reminder to other employers who willingly fail to keep their works safe.
"OSHA has pledged to work with state prosecutors to raise the stakes in appropriate trenching death cases, and this is an example," she said.
Between 2011 and 2018, 166 workers died in trench collapses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA said collapses like these pose the greatest threat to crews.
Following Dillon's guilty plea on Thursday, Heidi McCollum, 5th Judicial District Attorney, explained that business owners have a responsibility to train and protect their employees from unsafe conditions.
"The reality is that this tragedy was 100% preventable," she said. "Employers who choose to take shortcuts to save money at the expense of the safety of their employees must be held accountable. That type of behavior by an employer is unacceptable. People should not feel like they have to be put in dangerous work situations, just to keep their jobs; and, people should not have to pay with their lives, just so their employer can save a few dollars."
Dillon's sentencing is set for Nov. 9 at 10 a.m.
