Angry passenger causes Metro bus crash; nine injured
Police and witnesses said the man boarded the southbound bus at North 85th Street shortly after 10:30 a.m. and began arguing with the bus driver over whether his bus pass was expired or not. The driver, who had already pulled away from the bus stop, repeatedly told the man to sit down, but he refused and kept yelling for the driver to let him off the bus.
The man then made a grab for the wheel to force the bus toward the curb, and the bus rammed into a tree and knocked down a utility pole, coming to rest halfway into the intersection of North 80th Street and Aurora Avenue North, police said.
The man ran off toward Green Lake. Two bystanders followed him and pointed police toward where he was hiding in a bush. The 25-year-old man was then arrested. Seattle Police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said the man could face felony assault charges.
About 60 people were on the bus at the time of the crash, Whitcomb said. Nine were injured and were taken to local hospitals.
The bus driver was not injured. Metro Transit spokeswoman Linda Thielke said the driver had been relieved of duty while the police conducted their investigation.
"Thank goodness there were no pedestrians," Whitcomb said. "It could have been much, much worse."
There were intermittent traffic jams in the area for hours after the crash. The downed utility pole knocked out power to the traffic lights at the intersection of Aurora Avenue North and North 85th Street, and police blocked off traffic for several blocks in both directions to give work crews space to clean up the accident scene.
The streets were expected to be reopened in time for the afternoon commute, Whitcomb said.
In the meantime, Metro was rerouting affected bus lines around the accident scene, said Metro spokeswoman Rochelle Ogershok.
Jessica Blanchard: 206-464-3896 or jblanchard@seattletimes.com
