Gomez gets 30 days in jail for fatal garbage truck crash

An Atwater man was sentenced to 30 days in jail Thursday after pleading guilty to careless driving for operating a garbage truck while distracted and killing a Willmar woman in a traffic crash last summer.

In Kandiyohi County District Court, Judge Jennifer Fischer sentenced 48-year-old Rudolfo Gomez to 90 days in jail, but stayed 60 of those days for one year. Gomez will serve the 30 days starting next week, and will be eligible for work release and can do community service work to help pay for a $500 fine.

He was also ordered to pay more than $6200 in restitution to the family of 56-year-old Nicolasa Bernabe-Lopez, who died after she and Gomez truck collided at an intersection five miles east of Raymond July 26th.

Gomez must also write a letter of apology to the victim’s family, and will be on probation for one year. Police say Gomez was distracted by a tablet computer at the time of the crash.

(JP Cola, KWLM)