Bus Driver Held in Crash Fatal to Seven in Chicago

A city bus crushed a car at a busy lakefront intersection Friday, killing seven persons in the automobile who were heading for a Bruce Springsteen concert and injuring 60 on the bus, authorities said.

Those killed, all in their teens or 20s, had been “thrilled to get the tickets” for the concert at Soldier Field, about a mile away, said Sue Trizna, a sister of Bette Cipolle, 21, of Joliet, who died in the crash.

Although several bus passengers said the car swerved in front of the bus, Terry Levin of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said, “We have witnesses that say the bus driver was at fault and the car driver was doing nothing illegal, but was making a proper left-hand turn.”

The bus driver, David Johnson, who suffered minor injuries, was charged with reckless homicide, a felony; and two misdemeanors, driving too fast for conditions and improper lane usage, Levin said.

“The car cut in front of the bus,” said Michael Kegle, a passenger on the bus. “It was trying to get off at an exit and it cut the bus off.” He said the bus wound up on top of the car and crushed it.

Dori Chandler, another bus passenger, said: “They just came on over out of their lane into the front. (The bus driver) did everything he could.”

A crane was used to lift the bus off the auto, said Jim Morrison, a Fire Department spokesman.

Morrison said seven persons were killed and 60 injured in the 1:30 p.m. accident.

The car’s vinyl top was crushed into the seats from the weight of the bus. Rescue workers trying to free victims inside had to use an electric saw to cut the top away and pull it back like the lid of a can.

In addition to Miss Cipolle, the victims included her boyfriend, Daniel Dow, 21, of Shorewood; Dow’s sister, Kimberly, 16, of Shorewood; Dean Labarbera, 16, of Joliet; Kristin Behrens, 15, of Joliet; and Jennifer Frederickson, 16, of Shorewood, according to Christopher Morris of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The seventh victim, a girl, had been only tentatively identified, Morrison said.