Crash kills bus passenger

An 86-year-old Rohnert Park woman died Thursday afternoon when a Sonoma County Paratransit bus collided with a flatbed truck south of Sebastopol.

Marielle Struckus, a passenger on the small bus that serves disabled people, died about 1 p.m. after the truck's driver veered into oncoming eastbound traffic on Highway 116 near Llano Road.

Struckus, the sole passenger on the bus, was the first person to die on a county transit bus in the system's 28-year history, said Bryan Albee, transit manager.

The truck driver, Jose Trinidad Cazares, 36, of Petaluma, told California Highway Patrol officers that he veered into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting a stopped vehicle in his westbound lane. The truck was towing a small, wheeled mixer.

Cazares said no traffic was visible in the eastbound lane at the time, CHP Officer Juan Leon said. However, visibility there is limited because of a bend in the road.

Cazares and three other people suffered what Leon described as minor injuries in the crash. Among them was the paratransit bus driver, Shirley Ottem, 55, of Santa Rosa, and two passengers in the truck. The passengers' names weren't available.

The four were expected to be treated for their injuries at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and released, Leon said.

The paratransit buses provide door-to-door service for disabled people. The bus involved in the crash was configured to accommodate eight passengers, Albee said.

The crash crumpled the front ends of both vehicles. Both the bus and the truck came to rest off the road against a fence.

Neighbors Dale and Connie Thomson said they were at home when they heard what sounded like an explosion. They ran out to their driveway and found three men sitting dazed inside the truck. Then the couple heard paratransit driver Ottem call to them.

"The lady was screaming, 'Help me! Help me!' " said Dale Thomson. He pulled her through the driver's window, then went to help Struckus. But he said he could find no pulse.

Struckus was seated near the front of the bus.

The crash blocked traffic in both directions of Highway 116, also known as Gravenstein Highway.

Emergency personnel diverted eastbound traffic around the crash to Daywalt, Hessel or Llano roads.

The flatbed truck had the words "Kenyon Plastering Inc." on its doors. A representative of the Santa Rosa company declined comment Thursday afternoon.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat

.com and Staff Writer

Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat

.com.