Overview
- A wrong‑way SUV struck a Los Angeles Metro bus at Nordhoff and De Soto around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, killing two passengers and injuring several others with at least two people in life‑threatening condition.
- Los Angeles County prosecutors charged 36‑year‑old Bailee Lynn Rios on Thursday with two counts of second‑degree murder, a felony DUI causing injury, and reckless driving; she is held on $4 million bail and faces arraignment imminently.
- Officials say investigators found drugs and narcotics in Rios’s 2004 Ford Expedition and allege she was speeding, ran a red light and drove into opposing traffic before colliding with the bus.
- Hours after the bus crash a news helicopter covering the scene suddenly lost altitude and crashed nearby, killing reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and a person on the ground; the NTSB and FAA have opened a joint probe and are reviewing onboard video and cockpit audio.
- Prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue charges tied to the helicopter deaths, and the case could reshape local policy on repeat DUI enforcement and on how broadcasters use helicopters for live newsgathering.