Houston charter bus owner built business, checkered rep

HOUSTON (AP) - As Angel de la Torre built his Houston charter bus company from one bus to a fleet of six that won contracts from churches, Boy Scout troops and schools, he also built a contradictory reputation.

Some fellow operators described de la Torre as an honest, responsible bus operator; while others said the owner of Angel Tours cut corners on bus maintenance, did not screen drivers and allowed them to work longer than legally allowed, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday.

On Aug. 8, a bus operated by Angel Tours blew a front tire, and veered off a highway near Sherman, killing 17 members of a Vietnamese Catholic group on their way to a religious celebration in Missouri.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a front tire blew out on the bus, causing the driver to lose control. The failed tire was a retread, violating federal regulations against retreads on the steering axle.

De la Torre did not return repeated phone calls from the Houston Chronicle. Houston attorney Phil Sellers, who is defending de la Torre in a civil suit brought by victims of the Sherman crash, told the newspaper that he could not let his client talk because of the continuing federal investigation.

Dallas attorney Keena Greyling, who represents the insurance company that issued de la Torre's coverage, said he didn't install the retreaded tire. Greyling said the tire was on the bus in July when de la Torre purchased the used 2002 model from Motor Coach Industries.

Motor Coach Industries officials would not tell the Chronicle whether they had sold de la Torre the bus, but spokeswoman Pat Plodzeen did say: "That's incorrect about the tire. It's false."

De la Torre was born to Mexican immigrants in Harlingen and grew up in Mexico and Chicago, said Blanca De La Torre, his ex-wife, who helped run the bus company.

In Chicago, Angel de la Torre dropped out of high school, earned a GED and drove a bus for 13 years, his ex-wife said. The couple married in Chicago and had six children.

In 1985, they moved to Houston and started a private bus company that transported Houston school district students to school.

After the couple divorced in 2004, Blanca De La Torre took over the school bus company, which still operates as Blanca's Bus Service with two school buses. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the company is properly registered in Texas and has current insurance coverage of $500,000.

Angel de la Torre took over Angel Tours, which was contracted to shuttle Houston residents to the Shell Oil Golf Tournament, the Bayou City Art Festival, quilting conventions, and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In those same years, the company received $112,000 and $23,000 from HISD and the Pasadena Independent School District, respectively, for charter services.

But, over the past three years, Angel Tours also collected an extensive record of driver, safety equipment and mechanical violations on Texas highways.

Since 2005, drivers have been ticketed 13 times for at least 65 violations by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers. The violations include faulty brakes, leaking fuel lines, chafed brake hoses, leaking or bald tires, cracked windshields and discharged fire extinguishers.

The driving records of the dozen drivers cited by the DPS show that 10 have amassed 23 tickets or moving violations, including six speeding tickets, eight citations for not carrying insurance on their personal vehicles, two DWI convictions, and a ticket for careless driving in Louisiana.

However, Angel de la Torre's driving record in Texas shows no violations, and he has no criminal history.

He was sued in July 1994, for allegedly injuring a minor on a bus he was driving, but the case was dismissed. And in April 2006, Blanca De La Torre won a contempt judgment against him for his failure to pay $10,000 in missed child support payments, according to Harris County civil court records.

Former Angel Tours driver Richard Harris said Angel de la Torre, after the divorce, began to reduce maintenance, driver pay and drug testing. Harris also said de la Torre kept few of the required federal records on his drivers, and put off serious mechanical repairs.

Harris said he quit because of concerns about working conditions.

On June 23, U.S. Department of Transportation inspectors closed down Angel Tours, after they found a "total and complete breakdown of management controls."

Four days later, Angel de la Torre attempted to register a new company, Iguala Busmex, from the same address and using the same vehicles and drivers from the Angel Tours, according to DOT documents.

His bus company was operating as Iguala Busmex when the bus crashed on its way to a religious event in Missouri on August 8, even though federal authorities had not licensed the company to operate.

U.S. Rep Sheila Jackson Lee announced plans Saturday to introduce legislation that would punish bus drivers and operators who don't adhere to federal safety guide with 10 years in jail and fines of up to $10,000.

Violations would include failing to regularly test drivers and transporting passengers on buses with conspicuous neglect, said Jackson Lee at a press conference where she was flanked by families of the Sherman bus crash victims.

"How can you violate federal law, cause injury and death and have no consequences?" asked Jackson Lee, chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.