Bus Hits Car; Driver Held on Drug Charge
An RTD bus driver was in jail Sunday, suspected of being under the influence of drugs and deliberately ramming his bus into a car carrying a mother and three children in Sierra Madre on Saturday.
Michael Mitchell, 33, of Claremont was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and driving under the influence of drugs, Sierra Madre Police Sgt. Larry Lutzow said.
The 27-year-old woman driving the car and her three children, aged 5, 7 and 9, were uninjured, he added. Their names were not released.
According to witnesses, Lutzow said, Mitchell appeared to purposely drive his bus, which contained one passenger, across the center line of Sierra Madre Boulevard and around the car so that he struck the woman’s vehicle on the driver’s side. Mitchell apparently did not know the woman, Lutzow said.
Since July 31, RTD drivers have been involved in four major accidents in which 51 people were injured.
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