A stolen car crashed into an AC Transit bus in Richmond, Calif. late in the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 5th, 2014, causing the bus to veer off the roadway and into a structure. Eleven people sustained injuries as a result of the crash, but there were no fatalities. Both the bus and the building had considerable damages after the accident took place. The alleged driver of the stolen vehicle, 24-year-old Richard Contreras, is being sought by police for questioning.
Three people were inside the home at the time the bus crashed into it, two of whom were young children. All three individuals inside the home were injured, though none of the injuries were said to be life-threatening. Ashley Ortega, the adult woman whose living room became the final resting place of the AC Transit bus, stated that the bus stopped just short of hitting her three-month-old son, who was seated in a bouncer in the living room at the time of the crash.
Eight others sustained injuries as a result of the crash: seven passengers and the bus driver were transported to local hospitals in the area to be treated for minor injuries. Neighbors who witnessed the crash stated that they saw children on the bus who were covered in blood.
Contreras was allegedly driving a dark red stolen Honda when local police began to tail him. Police representatives stated that they had run the license plates of the Honda through the system and discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen. They proceeded to follow the vehicle, though they did not initiate lights or sirens. Nevertheless, Contreras sped away from police and, in doing so, rammed into the AC transit bus and caused it to smash into the nearby home. Contreras fled the scene of the accident on foot, leaving behind a minor passenger—thought to be Contreras’ younger sibling—in the stolen vehicle.
Ortega’s home was a duplex-style building, and her half of the property has been red-tagged and deemed not fit for human habitation. A gas line was broken in the course of the accident, and the home attached to Ortega’s, although still fit for habitation, is currently without any electricity, pending repairs to the gas line by Pacific Gas and Electric. The homes in the area were briefly evacuated following the crash, but residents have since been given the go-ahead to return to their homes.