Car Rams Bus Bench, Killing 1

A 77-year-old woman was killed and six others were seriously injured Wednesday when a car, swerving to avoid another motorist, plowed into a Long Beach bus bench during the early morning rush hour.

All of the injured at the Santa Fe Street bus stop were elderly and apparently waiting for a nearby food bank to open, according to friends of the victims.

Police investigators said a man driving a black Chevrolet Caprice swerved when a Subaru station wagon darted into his path. The driver of the Subaru had apparently borrowed the car to make a short trip to a minimarket.

Police said they found the Subaru in front of the owner’s house just blocks away from the scene of the accident, but the driver had left without returning the keys. The driver of the Caprice and his daughter, who was a passenger, were not charged and were treated for minor injuries at Pacific Hospital.

The woman killed in the accident was identified as Lolita Avenoja. She was pinned between the Caprice and a wall after it slammed into the bus stop.

All of the injured at the bus stand were rushed to two area hospitals. Immediately after the accident, one was listed in critical condition, two in serious condition and three in fair condition.

Most of those injured, along with the dead woman, were taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Susan Solomon identified some of the injured as Brigido Cruz, 77, Venus Aquino, 75, Zoila Floreza, 68, and Krimhilda Maatubang, 70. By late afternoon, all four were listed in fair condition.

Two people who were taken to St. Mary Medical Center were identified as Prescilla Pedroshe, 72, and Lolita Solidad Santana, 73. Pedroshe was suffering from head injuries and a fractured ankle. Santana had a fractured wrist.

All the victims had been waiting for the food center to open, said Hernani Ladd, whose mother usually visits the center on Wednesday mornings.

The bus stop lies just a few feet north of the entrance to the Philadelphia Good Neighbor House, which offers free food and rice on Wednesday mornings.

“They were in the line to get food,” said Ladd, who visited some of the victims in the hospital. By luck, she said, her mother had decided to stay home rather than go to the food bank.

Elderly Filipinos arrive at the center early to chat, said Ladd, adding that many take the bus even though they live nearby.

In the accident, as reconstructed by police, the driver of the Caprice was heading north on Santa Fe and had just crossed Willow Street when the Subaru pulled out of a minimarket and into his lane of traffic.

The Caprice’s driver, who was not identified by police, swerved and hit the bus bench, slamming into seven people who were either at the stop or close to it.

“The bench was totally taken out,” said Long Beach Fire Capt. James Watson.

Long Beach police spokeswoman Maria Mendez said the Subaru was found a short time after the accident at the residence of the car’s owner, less than a mile from the crash scene.

She said the car had been loaned out by the owner, who works on Catalina Island and is gone much of the time. Relatives of the owner would not tell police who was driving the car, Mendez said.

“This guy [the suspect driver] still has the keys to the car,” she said. “He didn’t even go into the house to say, ‘Hey, I’m back’ or ‘I caused an accident’ or nothing.”

By late afternoon, no arrests had been made. Police said the Subaru had been impounded.