RTD Driver Held in Hit-Run Death of Motorcyclist : Accidents: The Canoga Park woman allegedly continued on her route after running over the Chatsworth man.

An RTD bus driver who allegedly ran over and killed a fallen motorcycle rider in Canoga Park and then continued on her route was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter Wednesday, police said.

Teresa LaBarba, 35, of Canoga Park could also face a felony hit-and-run charge when evidence from the accident is presented to prosecutors, Traffic Officer Gary Weller said.

Police said LaBarba was driving her bus south on Topanga Canyon Boulevard about 10 a.m. when it ran over Eric Edwards, 20, of Chatsworth and crushed him.

Edwards had fallen off his motorcycle when he lost control of it near the intersection with Sherman Way.

“The motorcyclist crashed and the bus driver ran over him,” Weller said. “She never touched the motorcycle. Then the bus took off.”

Police said five passengers were aboard the bus, but it was unclear whether they saw the accident or told LaBarba to stop.

Detectives were attempting to locate them Wednesday night.

One passenger told police that he did not see the accident or feel the impact, Detective Wayne Dufort said.

Weller said it was initially unclear who had hit Edwards until witnesses told investigators that it was an RTD bus.

RTD was then contacted and LaBarba, who was known to be driving a route in the area, was ordered by radio to return to the accident scene, Weller said.

LaBarba told investigators that when she noticed the motorcycle in the street behind her she radioed RTD supervisors to report an accident but said it did not involve her.

She then continued on her route.

“She is claiming she didn’t know she hit him,” Weller said.

However, police said two witnesses said they saw the bus bounce up and down as the front and rear tires struck Edwards.

LaBarba dropped off the passengers when she was told to return to the accident scene, but first she asked them to fill out forms with their names and addresses.

Police were using the information to locate them.

RTD spokesman Jim Smart said RTD police are also investigating the accident.

Police said that regardless of whether the driver reported the accident, she was bound by law to stay at the scene if she was involved.

Smart said LaBarba has been an RTD driver for seven years, but he could not say whether she had been involved in previous accidents because that information is part of her confidential personnel file.