Tow truck loses brakes, smashes into building

June 21, 2006

After brakes apparently failed, a tow truck carrying a 1974 Cadillac sedan smashed into three trees and two fences before plowing into the southwest corner of a four-unit apartment building on Sierra Avenue in Cotati Sunday afternoon, said Sgt. Dennis Wallach of the Cotati Police Department.

The driver, Adam Lemos, 42, of Rohnert Park, suffered minor injuries, and no one else was injured.

At 12:17 p.m., Cotati police responded to a call that a semi-truck had exited the West Sierra Avenue off ramp on Highway 101 and struck a building at 539 W. Sierra Ave. They found that despite Lemos' efforts, a Yarbrough Brothers tow truck failed to stop as it descended the off ramp.

The truck tipped onto two wheels as it went through an intersection, and roared across the lawn of the Vineyard Meadows apartment complex before bouncing off a tree and crashing into a "no left turn" sign. Then the truck plowed through two more trees and two fences before smashing into the wall of a unit that had been vacated by Sonoma State University students about two weeks ago.

The impact demolished the kitchen, rear sliding door, stairwell and some 20 feet of the wall, Wallach said.

The Cadillac was thrown off of a flat bed, and came to rest in the backyard of the apartment next door, its front axle badly damaged.

Lemos was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released. The tow truck suffered extensive damage.

The City of Cotati red-tagged the building after it was deemed unsafe to occupy. Four residents of the building were relocated to vacant units in the complex, Wallach said.

Rancho Adobe firefighters cut the cab of the truck in half so it wouldn't rip through the second-story floor, and it was pulled out by another tow truck.

Police will inspect the damaged tow truck for mechanical failure.