A Metro worker was arrested Thursday and charged with negligent homicide in connection with a 2008 Metrobus crash in downtown D.C., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ronald Taylor was arrested on the job, according to Metro. The 40-year-old was charged with negligent homicide dating from the bus crash that killed a California businessman, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia spokesman Bill Miller.
The crash occurred Sept. 26, 2008, in downtown D.C. when Taylor’s bus crashed into a taxi. Taylor was initially fired after the incident, accused of running a red light, but was later reinstated by Metro.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and 19th Street NW. Bartlett Tabor, 55, his wife, and their two children, ages 9 and 10, were riding in a minivan taxi to a hotel near Washington Dulles International Airport to catch their return flight the next day to their home in Alamo, Calif. Tabor, a finance executive, later died.
The family sued Metro for $100 million, and the transit agency settled the case in January in a confidential agreement. Taylor was fired from the transit agency following the crash, as Metro said he ran a red light.
But he was not charged with any crimes or citations at the time, and an arbitration panel did not find enough evidence that he ran the red light. The arbitrators awarded him full back pay and order Metro to rehire him.
However, a grand jury in Superior Court indicted Taylor on Tuesday, Miller said. A judge issued a warrant that day and he was arrested Thursday morning, Miller said.
