Greyhound bus driver charged in fatality
Police charged a Greyhound bus driver with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle Wednesday after the bus she was driving hit a light post, which fell on a pedestrian’s head, killing him.
Officers responded to a call about the incident at 3:38 a.m. in the 600 block of West Trade Street, just south of Graham Street near the Greyhound Bus Terminal. They found a man with a head wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:51 a.m. by Medic.
The victim was identified as James Robert Minter, 52. There was no immediate word as to what he was doing at the time of the incident.
CMPD said bus No. 86250 was turning left out of the terminal going the wrong way on West Trade Street when the driver’s side of the bus hit a utility pole and dislodged it.
The bus was en route to Atlanta with nine passengers on board, police said.
The driver did not realize the bus had struck the pole and continued on toward Atlanta, but she returned to the terminal after authorities made contact while the bus was on Interstate 85, police said.
Authorities charged driver Talaysha Celeste Brown, 33, of Lithonia, Ga. She was released from Mecklenburg Jail on a $5,000 bail and is scheduled to make her first court appearance Thursday morning.
No passengers said they were injured, police said.
Greyhound spokeswoman Lanesha Gipson declined to comment on the charges or anything about the driver’s background. She also said she had no information on the last time a Greyhound driver was charged in connection with a death.
Greyhound is launching its own investigation into what happened, Gipson said, which is standard procedure. The bus line is cooperating with local authorities, she said.
The inbound lanes of Trade Street were blocked as emergency crews responded to the wreck. There was dense fog in the area early Wednesday, although it was not immediately clear if the weather was a factor in the crash.
Adam Bell: 704-358-5696, @abell
This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 6:24 AM with the headline "Greyhound bus driver charged in fatality."