By admin 
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A woman accused of slamming her SUV into a Metro bus in Chatsworth, killing two people and injuring six others — in a collision that was later the scene of a deadly TV news helicopter crash — was due to appear in court Thursday.
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Bailee Rios, 36, was scheduled to appear in court at Los Angeles County Superior Court in San Fernando, located at 900 Third St., according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail records.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman will provide an update at a scheduled press conference at 2 p.m. Thursday.
Rios allegedly drove a gray 2004 Ford Expedition south in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue just after 5 p.m. Tuesday when she ran a red light and nearly collided with an eastbound vehicle before hitting the side of the Metro Line 166 bus in the 20900 block of Nordhoff Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“The impact fully ejected one passenger from the bus and partially ejected a second,” according to an LAPD statement. “Debris from the collision also damaged a blue 2024 Honda CR-V that was stopped, facing northbound, on De Soto Avenue at Nordhoff Street.”
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and one suffered serious injuries, police said.
“The other passengers transported to local hospitals sustained non-life-threatening injuries,” police said, adding that a total of six patients were transported.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail records indicate that Rios, a Simi Valley resident, was arrested Tuesday night by investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division and booked on suspicion of murder with bail set at $4.03 million.
Rios was injured in the collision and treated at a hospital before being taken into custody, according to Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo. Metro previously indicated that Rios had died at the hospital, but that report turned out to be unfounded.
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The county medical examiner on Wednesday identified the victims as Daniel Castillo, 46, who died on the bus, and Gage Weida, 31, who died on the street nearby, having apparently been thrown from the bus during the collision.
Video from the scene showed Los Angeles Fire Department crews tending to multiple patients, and frantically working to free a woman who was trapped inside the bus. She was eventually freed and quickly loaded into an ambulance, having suffered with what crews on scene described as “crushing” injuries.
A white medical examiner’s tent was erected at the scene of the bus crash where the vehicle collided with the bus, video from later in the night showed.
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A large number of ambulances and fire engines responded to the scene.
An NBC4 helicopter crew that was reporting on the fatal bus collision crashed just blocks away shortly before 7 p.m., killing three people, including the reporter and the pilot onboard the helicopter and one person on the ground, and injuring two others.
A community vigil to honor the lives of all five victims killed in both the Metro bus crash and the helicopter crash will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. John Eudes Church in Chatsworth, eight blocks from where the helicopter hit the ground.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, whose Third District includes Chatsworth, said she was working with local authorities to understand what happened.
“I’m heartbroken by the devastating crash in Chatsworth. My thoughts are first and foremost with those who lost their lives, their families and loved ones, and everyone who was injured,” she said.
“My office is in close contact with local authorities and Metro as we work to understand what happened and ensure those affected have the support they need. Thank you to the first responders who rushed to the scene and are caring for those in need.”
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