Woman, 91, Dies After Being Hit by Bus

A 91-year-old woman out for a morning stroll Wednesday was struck and killed by a school bus as she and a friend attempted to cross A Street downtown.

Rosa Garcia of Oxnard was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center after the 8:35 a.m. accident at A and 4th streets, said Don Mulville, the Oxnard police accident investigator.

Her friend, Louis Blanco, 65, of Oxnard, was not injured, Mulville said.

The driver of the Laidlaw Transit bus, Ron Brady, 56, of Oxnard, was not cited, but Mulville said the investigation was continuing.

The bus, which picked up and dropped off patients at a special education clinic before the accident, had one passenger, who was not hurt, Mulville said. Garcia was the second Oxnard resident in three days to be hit by a vehicle while attempting to cross a street. An 8-year-old boy was hit by a car Monday as he bolted across Teakwood Street on his way to Sunkist Elementary School on the Oxnard-Port Hueneme border.

Garcia was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. in the hospital’s critical care unit, nursing supervisor Sandi Melton said.

Officials at the transit company’s Oxnard office confirmed that Brady was a driver but would not comment further. Bill Young, the company’s district manager, said Brady has driven for the company for five years. He is a certified bus driver, although the mid-size van he was operating does not require it, Young said.

“We’re still investigating it, but I don’t think he has any prior accidents or problems,” Young said.

Mulville said Garcia was struck by the side of the bus as she crossed the street on a green light. Brady was attempting to make a left turn onto 4th Street from southbound A Street, Mulville said.

Mulville said investigators will most likely turn over their findings to the district attorney’s office, which will decide whether to file charges.