Cattle rig flips on highway

Karen Zekan

Thursday, March 26, 1998 | 9:55 a.m.

Law enforcement, veterinarians, cattlemen and animal control officers pulled together in a massive rescue effort overnight after a tractor-trailer rig carrying 118 head of cattle flipped at the Spaghetti Bowl during a downpour, killing many animals and sending a handful of others scurrying down area roadways.

Frank Sepulveda, 64, was apparently traveling too fast for the rainy conditions when he attempted to take the northbound Interstate 15 ramp from northbound U.S. 95 about 10:05 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Within seconds the 1991 Peterbilt 18-wheel rig toppled onto its driver's side into the mud west of the ramp, its windshield wipers still squeaking back and forth.

"We believe he took the ramp to fast," said Trooper Steve Harney, spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol. "The load may also have shifted and caused him to lose control."

Sepulveda, employed by Cody and Alvin Land Leasing based in Pima, Ariz., was transporting the cattle from Coolidge, Ariz., to Grandview, Idaho -- a trek the driver had made at least a few times before, Harney said.

Paramedics shuttled Sepulveda to University Medical Center where he was undergoing treatment for minor cuts and abrasions late Tuesday night. Harney said he will receive a $185 citation for failure to use due care and will be required to pay for cleaning up the accident site.

Meanwhile, the cattle were scrambling.

At least six of the animals -- most of which were estimated to be about 200 pounds apiece and a year old -- were either thrown from the 45-foot trailer or managed to climb out the back and take off down the expressway.

"It was obviously a worst-case scenario," said NHP Sgt. Kevin Tice, who arrived at the scene and immediately took off on foot down U.S. 95 chasing cattle. "The accident happened at the Spaghetti Bowl at night, it was pouring rain. You couldn't even see the calves when they ran into traffic. Luckily cars were stopping for them."

Tice said he was able to temporarily control the small fleeing herd by pinning them up against a fence. At least one cow slipped through.

"We pinned one of the cows behind the AM/PM Mini-Mart at Martin Luther King and Bonanza," Tice said. "We corralled it with our patrol vehicles, but it was able to crawl up on the hood and get over the fence."

Ironically, the property on the other side of the fence happened to be a corral, which the owner permitted the officers to use.

Metro Police and city animal control officers joined in the roundup, following at least two calves more than a mile from the accident to Doolittle Park near Lake Mead Boulevard and J Street, where the team was able to steer the animals into a fenced enclosure.

Animal control officer Jim Nee was reported as having been slightly injured during the rescue.

NHP had a tremendous challenge on its hands trying to clear the 50,000-pound-plus wreckage from the roadway, namely from the many trapped, injured and dead animals inside the trailer.

Aside from a few kicking hooves, little was heard from the young herd pinned inside by metal bars that waited in the dark for hours. NHP was hoping to get the animals out so that Ewing Bros. towing company could get the vehicle righted and hauled away.

Cal Baird arrived shortly after midnight with a trailer large enough to accommodate the surviving cattle authorities planned to take to Horseman's Park behind Sam's Town hotel-casino off Flamingo Road.

Baird, a rancher from Bow and Arrow Cattle Co., said it was because of the wet weather that he was at home when NHP's call for help came in. "I would have been working construction if it wasn't for the rain."

The Bureau of Land Management was expected about 4 a.m. to be bringing enough equipment to construct a make-do chute to shuttle the cattle out the trailer's back door and into a pen set up alongside the expressway.

Officers affixed yellow police tape along the fence railings to help the cows see the enclosure better in the dark, one source said.

Dr. Debbie White of Lone Mountain Animal Hospital also came out to the scene, along with her husband, Dr. Kurt Mychajlonka of Craig Road Animal Hospital and veterinarian Christine Bercier.

The three vets' job was to assess the health of the surviving steer and heifers. Dozens were expected to have died from broken necks or other injuries.

"Once they can immobilize the tractor and get it into a safe area where we can see the extent of their injuries, the most humane thing to do with those that are really in bad shape will be to put them down. That's what we'll be doing."

Authorities were unable to estimate how long the ramp would be closed this morning.

NHP was also citing a second motorist for failure to use due care. The man, whose name was not released, ran his car off the opposite side of the ramp from Sepulveda's rig seconds after the tractor trailer flipped, Harney said.

Northbound traffic was bumper to bumper along the expressway from the Spaghetti Bowl back to at least the Eastern Avenue off ramp, authorities said.