MTA Bus Hits Mother, 2 Kids; 5-Year-Old Dies

PANORAMA CITY —  An MTA bus making a right turn through a green light struck a woman and her two small children crossing the street Tuesday, instantly killing a 5-year-old girl and critically injuring her mother, authorities said.

The bus was turning right from Tobias Avenue onto Parthenia Street eastbound when it struck Angelica Maravilla, 26, and her daughter, Karen Diaz, 5, and son, Christian Diaz, 3, about 4:40 p.m., Los Angeles police said. Christian was reported in fair condition after the crash, but his mother was taken immediately into surgery.

“The little girl took off and the mother tried to get hold of her,” said Natalie Landeros, 14, who was crossing on the opposite side of Parthenia. “The bus hit them and the little girl flew.”

“He made a big turn,” said witness Dolores Medina, 51. “The kids were very small. . . . I guess he didn’t see them.”

The driver, Richard Tolan, 45, of Van Nuys, stopped when he felt the bus hit the pedestrians, said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Steve Chesser, who described the six-year veteran driver as distraught.

Chesser said Tolan will be suspended with pay until the results of alcohol and narcotics tests are known--standard procedure in fatal MTA accidents. Neither Tolan nor the four passengers on the bus were injured, he said.

LAPD Lt. Anthony Alba said it wasn’t certain that the family members--who relatives said were returning from a visit to a medical clinic--were crossing during the walk cycle of the stoplight, but noted that since they were in the crosswalk they had the right of way.

Residents complained that buses frequently make sweeping turns from Tobias onto Parthenia, and that even pedestrians who cross with the light are at risk.

“When they want to make a right turn and people are crossing the street they just go right ahead,” said Carmen Mora, 30. “This time she [the mother] had one in each hand, and tried to pull back the girl, but it was too late.”

“I don’t know them, but my heart breaks for the baby,” said Martin Gomez, 24, who saw the accident.

Times staff writer Jose Cardenas contributed to this story.