A morning bus ride turned into a nightmare for 30 passengers aboard a New Jersey Transit bus after the bus collided with a stolen car. The bus then took out three utility poles, cutting off power to many neighbors.
“I heard a loud bang, impact. The next thing you know, the power went out…I live here,” says Anais Cutts.
The crash happened around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday near 18th and Grove streets in Irvington. It was right near the Best Cars R Us dealership where Greg Canada works.
“It was scary. Wires were all over the place. People in disarray. It was amazing,” he says.
Tyler Edge was across the street when the crash occurred and recorded video of people jumping from the bus windows. He then ran over to help the people who were running for help.
“I ran to the front of the house to see what happened. A whole transformer exploded. The bus is on the side of the road. There’s a red car in the middle of the street,” Edge says.
Police say that the driver of the stolen car was a 22-year-old man. He was arrested and taken to the hospital. His 19-year-old passenger wasn’t hurt. She was also taken into custody.
The bus driver was not injured, but a handful of passengers suffered injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening.
Canada says that the crash also caused some damage to the dealership.
“We’re going to have to replace the fence and we have three vehicles damaged. Not too bad, but still expensive to repair them,” he says.
From the surveillance video, it appears that the stolen car ran a red light, causing the crash.
Crews from PSEG are making repairs and should have all power restored by Wednesday night.