No charges in party bus death of girl, 11
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Multnomah County prosecutors said Thursday they will not charge a driver behind the wheel of a party bus when a 11-year-old girl tumbled from a window and died last fall.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office released a statement on Thursday outlining the reasons why they won’t file charges against driver Martin Ray Brouwer Jr.
The statement said there was no evidence Brouwer was criminally liable: He was not intoxicated and he was not driving dangerously or recklessly on Sept. 29 when Angie Hernandez fell and was crushed by the bus as it made a turn in downtown Portland.
Hernandez was among several children on board the bus celebrating a birthday party. She was sitting on top of a seat and fell backward through the window near the intersection of Southwest Harrison and Southwest First Avenue.
“He was turning at an appropriate and lawful speed and the manner of his driving was otherwise unremarkable,” the district attorney’s statement said. “In short, there does not appear to be any connection between the driver’s action and Angie’s death.”
To prove manslaughter or criminal negligent homicide charges, prosecutors must prove a driver was behaving recklessly or negligently and that his actions were the direct cause of a person’s death.
Brouwer will still be cited for failing to have a commercial driver’s license, the statement said. Now that the investigation is complete, prosecutors say Portland police will issue Brouwer the citation.
The party bus was owned by Five Star Limousine. Questions quickly mounted about the company’s licensing following the September crash.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration fined the company $59,030.00 and placed the company out of service. Because of the federal sanctions imposed, the Oregon Motor Carrier Division has not issued additional regulatory sanctions.
Also, the City of Portland Revenue Bureau Regulatory Division suspended the bus company and all of its vehicles for failure to have the required city permits for operating within the city of Portland.
Where was the parent to tell the kid to sit the F' down?
@g0rg0n  shooting meth in the bathroom i imagine
Sad accident. I Â really really hate when kids die. As sad as this is, this is reality and children do have accidents. Children die. You can't blame everyone for every accident. The district attorney's office investigated it thoroughly and if they don't have evidence the driver was being a negligent driver, then he wasn't. And I agree with the other posters: you can't drive and babysit at the same time. Kids do silly things. I hope there was another adult on the bus.
@twoeyes I mainly would not like it if MY kids died.  but as far as the other brats?  well..i cant do nuttin bout it..so i'll go on with my life as if nothing happened.  i live in reality not some phony crap fantasy land. Â
Hopefully a lot of people will learn from this. The driver could have mentioned to a "Chaperone" if one was on the bus that all passengers need to obey certain rules.
If the driver had noticed some of the kids up out of seats, perhaps he could have pulled over and remind them. But it may have happened too quickly. Excited kids goofing off a bit, and no one to correct them.Â
Sad all around. The bus company hopefully learned also...and if allowed to stay in business will get their act together
@Just Lookin It's a "party" bus, after all.
I agree with this however I think the bus company should be charged with something since their negligence caused the girl to fall out and get killed.
@scoreboard Just a quick question...how was the bus company negligent making her fall out? Did they tell her or anyone to sit on the back of seats? Did they perhaps not tell all the people to sit on a bus correctly?
Was there a chaperone that told the kids to sit on the back of the seats?
@Just Lookin @scoreboard Shortly after the incident, there was an investigation that the bus wasn't properly maintained and the window failed, at least that's what I understood.
@scoreboard @Just Lookin That would be fodder for a civil suit, not criminal liability.
maybe it is time to "child proof " a bus? or perhaps have an active warning system when the windows are opened.
@lee986321 Lee, don't assume everyone is to blame always.. Sometimes you have to push yourself away from you computer and watch your children... Obviously this is a concept you don't understand, but when tragedy strikes maybe then you will learn..Â
Or expect accompanying adults to keep an eye on them? Just a thought, of course..
"girl tumbled from a window and died last fall" maybe we could word that one better......
I'm heartbroken for the family of the girl but, like Ralph said, the driver really can't babysit AND drive the bus.
This is the correct decision. It appears that the bus driver was operating well with the exception of the CDL. That is usually a ticket with other situations.
The girl was sitting on the back of the seat and there didn't appear to be any adult monitoring her. It is not the bus drivers job to monitor the passengers. It is all they can do to keep the bus heading down the road which is their job.
The incompleteness of the headline is quite sensational and misleading. Â "Criminal" should precede "charges" and "driver" should be mentioned. Â Typical pageview-whoring news media. Â There's still plenty of opportunity for criminal charges against the bus company as well as civil lawsuits against both driver and the bus company.
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@TheUglyTruth @Scorcho I didn't say there were convictions on the horizon, just that other charges and/or lawsuits were likely forthcoming.  No law degree, this is just what happens almost always.
@Scorcho @TheUglyTruth You can sue anybody you want, it doesn't mean you will win. Even if you do how much will you really win off of a guy who was driving a bus who doesn't even have a CDL?
I still feel the driver was negligent for allowing passengers to sit on the tops of their seatbacks. It falls under failure to maintain control of his bus, and jeopardized the safety of his passengers. Look for a civil settlement.
@WTFWTF He should have put the bus in cruise control, turned around, unbuckled his seat and given those kids a finger-wagging.
Or maybe he should pay attention to the road. He didn't jeopardize anybody's safety. They call him a DRIVER for a reason.
@Playanekes He should have pulled over, turned around, unbuckled his seat belt and given those kids a finger-wagging.
There, I fixed it for you.
@WTFWTF Where does the word babysitter fall into bus driver? That job was the chaperon/parents job.Â
@Jeepers His responsibility is the safety of the passengers. Whether or not the chaperones are doing their jobs is irrelevant.
@WTFWTF @Jeepers This wasn't a school bus or your local trimet bus.  Try telling a bunch of 11 year olds to sit the eff down and keep calm on a party bus. Â
It sounds like if they would have been following all the rules and regs no one would have been on that bus.
I do agree with your statement, it is just sad that the girl was sitting on the back of the seat improperly contributing to her death. I would still go after the company for operating a business improperly and go after the business, not the driver.
@dkgiovenco Everybody has to sue somebody, I guess. It's not a tragedy unless somebody loses a lawsuit over it.
@dkgiovenco @old_dollor After a $59,000+ fine, the bus company probably doesn't have much left to pay out.  Hopefully they had insurance....