The Region - News from Jan. 31, 1985

An RTD bus struck an elderly Highland Park woman at a bus yard, so severely mangling her legs that doctors had to amputate them. The driver told police that he did not see Maria Cossio, 73, as he turned the empty bus into the yard in Glassell Park. She was struck by the rear wheels. Surgeons at County-USC Medical Center spent several hours trying to save the critically injured woman’s legs but finally decided to amputate, a hospital spokeswoman said. Police said they would ask the city attorney’s office to charge bus driver Danny Lee Hemmett, 21, with a misdemeanor count of failing to yield the right of way to a pedestrian.