Oakland CA – Outrage: Trucker That Crashed CA Highway, Got License Despite Criminal Past.

Oakland, CA – The driver who crashed a tanker loaded with gasoline and brought down a heavily trafficked highway overpass was given a commercial trucker’s license despite a history of criminal convictions, including drug and burglary arrests, authorities said.

James Mosqueda, 51, of Woodland also got a special hazardous materials endorsement last year from the federal Transportation Security Administration despite regulations that can disqualify applicants with multiple convictions. To get it, he had to undergo an FBI criminal history check and an intelligence background check.

“It’s reprehensible,” said Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee and the Joint Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security. “Someone with that record has no business driving hazardous materials on our highways.” [Modesto Bee]