A Metro station manager was arrested at the Cheverly rail station Thursday morning, charged with negligent homicide in a 2008 Metrobus crash, officials said. Ronald Taylor, 40, could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted in the bus crash that killed a California businessman, according to Bill Miller, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Taylor could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Following Thursday’s arrest, Taylor was pulled out of service without pay, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. It was the latest twist in Taylor’s employment at the transit agency.
Taylor crashed his bus into a minivan taxi on Sept. 26, 2008, just six months after starting at Metro. His bus hit Bartlett Tabor, 55, his wife and their two children, ages 9 and 10, at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and 19th Street NW. They had been riding in the minivan taxi to a hotel near Washington Dulles International Airport to catch their flight the next day to their home in Alamo, Calif.
All had injuries, and Tabor, a finance executive, later died.
The family sued Metro for $100 million, and the transit agency settled the case in January 2010 in a confidential agreement.
Taylor was fired following the crash, because Metro officials said he ran a red light.
But he was rehired by June 2010. He had not been 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 ordered Metro to reinstate 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.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on why it took more than two years to file the criminal charges against Taylor. “We really don’t have any comments because typically we don’t discuss pending cases,” Miller said.
The news of the arrest was greeted with relief by Tabor’s family, according to their attorney. “They’re very pleased to see that justice is being served,” said Peter Grenier, who represented the Tabor family in the civil case.
