Man Dies After RTD Bus Hits Him; Driver Arrested

A 55-year-old man died today after being run over by an RTD bus in an accident in the Los Feliz area.

Police arrested the RTD bus driver, 38-year-old Cathy Miles of Pasadena, on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving Tuesday evening after the accident. She was released this morning from Sybil Brand Institute after posting $1,000 bail.

The dead man, identified by hospital officials as Douglas Caldwell, with no known address, suffered eight broken ribs and a collapsed lung when he was hit by the bus at the intersection of Franklin and Vermont avenues at 8:30 p.m.

He died of complications from the injuries at 11 a.m today in Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, a hospital spokesman said.

Police said Miles told them that she was driving north on Vermont Avenue and stopped at the intersection to take on eight passengers but that she shut the doors on Caldwell because he was staggering and holding a wine bottle.

‘She Saw Him Sit Up’

As Miles drove away, Caldwell began pounding the side of the bus and apparently fell under its double right rear wheels, which ran over his chest, police said. .

Miles told police she didn’t realize she had injured the man and continued on her route. “She looked in her rear view . . . and she saw him sit up,” said Los Angeles Police Detective Tony Bartolotto. “She said he didn’t appear to be injured, just drunk.”

But witnesses called police, and Caldwell was rushed to the hospital where he was operated on for several hours for removal of part of his collapsed right lung.

Police arrested Miles after RTD officials identified her as the bus driver on the route, and she returned--at the request of police--to the intersection at 10 p.m. in an RTD car.

Ticket Last Year

Police said Miles has no other accidents on her driving record. A check of Department of Motor Vehicles records for the last three years show she received a ticket while driving an RTD bus Dec. 31 for failing to obey traffic directions and improper passing of vehicles on the roadway.

Miles was administered a Breathalyzer test by police Tuesday night and was not intoxicated, police said.

Blood tests showed that Caldwell was intoxicated, with a .40 blood alcohol reading, police said.

Miles has been suspended without pay until the criminal investigation is completed, said Rick Jager, an RTD spokesman. Jager would not say whether RTD officials tested Miles for drugs.

The case will be sent to the district attorney’s office for review.