Crash at bus stop kills 4

Ed Koch and Jen Lawson

Monday, March 14, 2005 | 11:03 a.m.

Four people waiting for a Citizens Area Transit bus in northwest Las Vegas died this morning after a sport utility vehicle smashed into the bus stop, authorities said.

Three of the victims are possibly in their late teens or young adults and appeared to have had school homework, books and book bags with them, Metro traffic Sgt. Tracy McDonald said. One of the victims was a 36-year-old woman, police said.

The collision occurred at 7:18 a.m. at Smoke Ranch Road and Rock Springs Drive, near U.S. 95 and Tenaya Way, when a 1994 Ford Explorer with Nebraska license plates was eastbound on Smoke Ranch and swerved to the right into the bus stop, striking all four people, McDonald said.

The SUV apparently hit a low wall before careening into the bus stop and the waiting people, police said. It overturned and came to a rest on its side, about 150 to 200 feet from the bus stop.

The 34-year-old female driver was uninjured and was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, police said.

Police are testing the woman to see if she was under the influence of any drugs or narcotics, but said the accident may also have been medically related after interviewing her and her husband.

"There may be other explanations for this accident," Sgt. Chris Jones, a Metro spokesman, said. "We're looking at the possibility that it may be medical-related but we're not ruling out (drug) impairment."

Speed is not believed to be a factor in the collision, Jones said, but it also does not appear that the woman braked before the crash.

A young man and two women were lying dead in the roadway several feet away from the demolished bus shelter this morning. The fourth victim, a female, was transported to University Medical Center where she died, Jones said.

Police closed Smoke Ranch Road from Tenaya Way to Rainbow Boulevard for several hours and Rock Springs Drive was closed at the scene.

Police said at least two people witnessed the accident and had been taken from the scene to give statements. Police also are looking for additional witnesses who may have been driving in the area shortly after 7 a.m. and saw or heard something.

Bob Bush, a marriage and family therapist who lives nearby, heard that the wreck was at a bus stop and became concerned that his teenage granddaughter could be involved.

Bush came to the scene and saw that it involved a CAT bus stop and not a school bus stop.

"The relief is short-lived," he said, standing at the crime scene tape and looking toward the wreck. "This is just horrible, a lot of parents are going to be grieving about this."

Sharon Pepe, who lives at the Camden Breeze Apartments near the crash site, came out to see what was going on.

"I sit at this bus stop all the time," she said. "It's scary. It's not safe to be a pedestrian in this town."

Paul Fusco, Pepe's roommate, said he drove by the bus stop at about 7:15 a.m.

"I guess it happened right after that, this is horrible," Fusco said.