P.A.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the evening of June 20, 2017, Rodriguez, a senior tow truck driver for Plaza Towing, was working an evening shift. The shift started at 4:00 p.m. and was to end at midnight on June 21, 2017. That night, he had been dispatched to assist a disabled car in Brawley, about 60 to 70 miles from Plaza Towing’s yard in Indio. After completing the job, Rodriguez stopped for dinner in Brawley and then headed back to the tow yard around 10:40 p.m. To get there, Rodriguez had to travel on Highway 86 going north, and then exit at Dillon Road, a two-lane road with a shoulder demarcated by a white line the parties referred to as the “fog line”. He turned left onto westbound Dillon Road, going underneath the Highway 86 overpass and through an intersection. The road was very dark and Rodriguez was using his low beam headlights. He had driven this path quite a few times in the past. About 100 feet from the Dillon Road exit was a small bridge over a wash area with guardrails on either side. The bridge was narrower than the road leading onto and off of it, and the road onto the bridge angled slightly to the right. As Rodriguez approached the bridge, he noticed a man walking…