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May 20, 2006 2:59 am US/Pacific
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Questionable Drivers Are Transporting The Disabled
by David Goldstein
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
This driver got three speeding tickets within nine months!
This one was just released from jail after stabbing someone.
And this one has a warrant out for her arrest!
All of them are drivers for Access Services. Transporting L.A.'s most vulnerable citizens -- the disabled and the elderly.
Our three-month investigation found drivers with questionable backgrounds.
But the public agency that oversees Access's $80-million a year budget is in the dark, according to deputy executive director John Helm.
We found drivers with drugs, DUIs, speeding, suspended license, and assault with deadly weapon, one with a warrant out for her arrest -- with sometimes dangerous results.
"They should've interviewed the drivers, they should've had a qualified driver driving me otherwise I wouldn't have had the accident," says Steven Chrystie, who is now a quadriplegic after getting into an accident while riding in an Access van.
It was driven by this man: Karapet Asatryan. Our undercover cameras found him on the job, even though he got three speeding tickets within nine months. Access policy says the driver can't work if they have more than two in a 12-month period. But Asatryan wasn't and ended up behind the wheel.
"I'm angry at their own procedures that they should follow. Not following their own procedures caused this predicament."
Last month a jury awarded Chrystie $6-million and blamed Astryan for causing the accident, according to Chrystie's attorney, Ed Steinbrecher.
"They're not focused on getting rid of bad drivers. They are not focused on getting rid of the poor performers," he said.
They should be. In fact the DMV sends notices each time a driver gets a ticket. But in a deposition at trial, the person in charge of keeping track of the tickets for one subcontractor testified she didn't look at all the notices.
"There were lots of these, there were hundreds of drivers, okay a lot of drivers, so whether or not I looked at this particular one, I don't remember."
Helm says that shouldn't happen.
"That clearly is not acceptable as a term of a response."
And we found more. Take the case of Shawntee Workman. Our undercover cameras caught her reporting for work in March. She had just been released from jail for drug possession and assault with a deadly weapon.
And she was driving with a license suspended since 2003! It was reinstated last month.
And this is Kelly Lyles - she's driving one of these vans after convictions for prostitution, battery and drugs. And right now there's a warrant out for her arrest for violating her probation!
Should these people be driving for Access?
"If the allegations are true no they should not be driving for Access," says Helm.
Helm says they contract with five companies to provide service, and those companies are supposed to check the backgrounds of drivers. And he has auditors who check them, but he wanted to know more about what we found.
"You say you'd like to know about it but shouldn't you know about it already?" we asked.
"I can only say our audit practices are designed to capture that sort of thing."
"But you're not?"
"You're telling me I'm not but I would have to know the specifics."
For Steven Chrystie, it's obvious. He says his driver shouldn't have been behind the wheel. And he hopes others will avoid the same fate:
"I hope the change is made, and I hope the company makes changes that they won't be so negligent with other people."
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)