2 School Buses in Crash on 101; Driver Arrested

A Los Angeles school bus driver was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after getting entangled in a multi-vehicle crash on the Hollywood Freeway that injured eight and stalled traffic in the Cahuenga Pass for hours.

The bus driver, Jose Guadalupe Renteria, was carrying students to El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills when his bus hit a pickup truck and then was rear-ended by an MTA commuter bus in the chain-reaction accident. Seven girls aboard his Los Angeles Unified School District bus were treated for minor injuries at area hospitals and released.

A woman who was also injured in the pileup was treated for minor injuries and released from St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank.

Renteria was arrested by officers who smelled alcohol on his breath and then administered a Breathalyzer test on the freeway shoulder, police and school officials said. Renteria, 30, told officers he had been drinking alcohol on Tuesday night, authorities said.

The freeway accident was triggered by a driver who lost control of her car while driving in the fast lane of the rain-slick northbound freeway near Vineland Avenue, authorities said. A second school bus--headed for Lassen Elementary in North Hills--hit a pickup truck that swerved in front of Renteria’s bus.

California Highway Patrol officer Keith Holborn, surrounded by shards of glass and a throng of frustrated commuters as he investigated the accident aftermath early Wednesday, said rain likely caused the first driver to lose control of her car.

Renteria was being held Wednesday at the Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of felony drunk driving. His blood-alcohol level was measured at .038% 20 minutes after the 7:10 a.m. crash, said CHP spokesman Dwight MacDonald. The legal limit for drivers in California is .08% and .04% for bus drivers. The Los Angeles Unified’s limit for its drivers is .02%.

CHP officials said they arrested Renteria even though his blood-alcohol level was slightly below the state limit because he was endangering students and others.

“Nothing is tolerable, especially if you’re working with children,” said John Halterman, a CHP spokesman.

And though the Breathalyzer test was administered fairly quickly, authorities said, Renteria’s blood-alcohol level could have been higher at the time of the accident.

“That was enough time for him to come down,” MacDonald said.

Renteria of San Fernando was hired by the school district in November 1987, and had a good record, said David Koch, the school district’s business manager who oversees the transportation branch. Renteria was hired from Laidlaw Transit Co., which contracts buses and drivers to the district.

Koch said Renteria had passed a random drug and alcohol screening last spring. He likely was hired because of his solid driving record with Laidlaw, a common practice.

“Normally, we skim off the best drivers from our contractors,” Koch said. “That way, our rookies are already experienced drivers.”

Reached at his home in San Fernando, Renteria’s brother refused to comment about the incident.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Cohen said his office could charge Renteria with a misdemeanor rather than a felony because Renteria does not have a criminal record and the injuries were minor. He expects to decide by Friday.

The seven high school students were taken to four hospitals and released to their parents. Two of the girls, both juniors, said they now worry about taking the long bus ride from their Boyle Heights neighborhood to the west San Fernando Valley.

“It’s so scary,” said Ana Sanchez, 17, as she left North Hollywood Medical Center with her mother, Guadalupe. “You never know if it could happen again.”

Her best friend, Molly Pena, 16, said she was sitting in the back seat of the bus. Ana, who was sitting just in front, tried to pull Molly out of her seat when she heard the crash.

“Everyone was screaming and crying,” said Ana, whose gray sweatshirt was spotted with coffee stains splashed on her from the collision.

Molly’s mother, Blanca, said she heard about the accident on the radio while she was driving to her job as a housekeeper in Universal City. “I’m so nervous. I just kept saying, ‘Where’s Molly? Where’s Molly?” she said.

A driver in the accident, Ron Adkins of Tarzana, said he watched in fear as one of the school buses came charging toward his green 1995 Infiniti.

“I was scared and amazed,” Adkins said standing by his damaged car on the freeway. “It seemed like cars were going off everywhere. I thought I passed up the accident, but I looked back and there were still people hitting each other.”

Once his car came to a stop, Adkins said he looked toward the buses to see if any children were hurt.

“All of the kids looked fine,” he said. “They walked off the bus on their own . . . but a few of the drivers were still slumped over their steering wheels. They were obviously pretty shaken up.”

The complicated chain of events began when a Honda spun out of control into another lane, causing another car to smash into the Honda. The Lassen-bound school bus fishtailed into a third lane to avoid those cars, then hit a Toyota pickup truck.

The truck bounced into another lane, where Renteria’s school bus--apparently trying to escape the pileup--hit it. Then, Renteria’s bus veered toward the right shoulder and slammed into Adkins’ Infiniti, where he had pulled over to avoid the accident.

The MTA bus then hit the pickup truck and rear-ended Renteria’s bus.

El Camino Principal Ron Bauer said about 20 students were on Renteria’s bus, coming from neighborhoods near Marshall, Hollywood and Belmont high schools. About six students who were on the bus were sent home, complaining of minor aches and pains, he said.

At Lassen Elementary, Principal Madelyne Coopersmith said about 30 students--from Ramona and Los Feliz elementary schools--were on their way to Oxnard Elementary, where more students were to be picked up. She said the students all came to school, where they were fed breakfast and allowed to call their parents.

“They were excited, kind of shaken up,” Coopersmith said. “But by lunch, they seemed fine, rolling with the punches. . . . Now, we’ll see how many come on the bus tomorrow.”

The school district transports about 78,000 students a day, using about 2,200 buses. Half of the buses are owned by the school district and half are owned by private contractors.

The worst crash in school district history happened in December, when two elementary students were killed in an accident involving a malfunctioning trash truck near downtown. Last year, the district reported 729 accidents, 28 involving student injuries--all minor.

But following Wednesday’s accident, school board member David Tokofsky said he will ask officials for statistics on bus accidents--comparing the record of district drivers with contract drivers. He added that the district should also be seeking other options for students who ride buses because their neighborhood schools are filled.

“I think we need to be providing more options--opening up double sessions, maybe,” Tokofsky said. “I think those kinds of options and creativity need to be floated. We need to look at more neighborhood solutions.”

Correspondent Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.