An RTD bus driver faces a charge of careless driving resulting in death as a result of the collision that killed bicyclist Marvin “Chip” Webb last week.
Paul John Johnson, 67, of Westminster was issued a summons Tuesday by Lafayette police.
It is the second time Johnson has faced charges of careless driving behind the wheel of a bus in connection with a bicyclist.
In June 2003, a little less than a year after joining RTD, Johnson brushed a cyclist on Baseline Road in Boulder, said RTD spokesman Scott Reed.
Johnson was unaware of that until the cyclist caught up to the bus and became irate, but when Johnson offered to call in the incident, the cyclist left.
The next day, Johnson was charged with careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. The latter charge was dropped. Johnson pleaded no contest to careless driving, and no points were assessed on his driver’s license, Reed said.
Public records also show that in 1994, Johnson pleaded guilty to drunken driving in Adams County. Reed said the DUI conviction was off Johnson’s driving record by the time he joined RTD eight years later.
Johnson is on suspension while the transit agency conducts its own investigation.
Johnson’s bus was turning left onto South Public Road at City Center Circle at 9:46 p.m. April 6 when it struck Webb, who died from his injuries the next day. Webb had recently opened Chip’s Place, a breakfast spot in Lafayette about 10 blocks from the accident scene.
In the hours after he died, restaurant patrons posted farewell messages on the door of the cafe.
“Goodbye Chip, we will miss you,” one stated. Notes from children paid homage to his Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes.
Webb’s death was one of four involving Regional Transportation District buses this month.
On April 3, Dustin Peletier and Carla Miranda, both 29, died after an RTD bus ran a red light near downtown Denver. The bus driver, Tidenekiyalesh Hawariyat, 30, faces 13 misdemeanor charges — two counts of careless driving resulting in death and 11 counts of careless driving resulting in injury.
Both are misdemeanors punishable by 10 days to a year in jail and a fine of $300 to $1,000, according to state law.
On April 5, 78-year-old Clinton Grider of Aurora was run over by an RTD bus as it pulled away from a stop in Aurora; charges have not been filed in that case.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
