UPDATE: Mystery solved? Police say they’ve tracked down ‘hit and run’ bus driver
RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Saturday night two cars were side-swiped on Edgewood Avenue. Police say it was a hit-and-run with a suspect vehicle that is consistent with a school bus, and two police reports have been filed that claim a school bus hit their vehicles.
But school officials are adamant that all of their buses were accounted for and parked by 4:30 Saturday afternoon.
Fast-forward to Tuesday night when CBS 6 discovered a school bus caught on tape, three minutes after the incident, and traveling in the same direction that witnesses had spotted a bus on Brookland Park Boulevard.
Exclusive surveillance video obtained by CBS 6 from the BP gas station at the intersection of Brookland Park Boulevard and Chamberlayne Avenue showed a school bus passing by at 9:19 Saturday night.
That was two to three minutes after Mike Clifford says his car was sideswiped on Edgewood Avenue by someone driving a school bus.
"I've got fender damage. It's going to cost a couple thousand dollars," Clifford said.
Eyewitnesses tell police the bus fleeing the scene had “Richmond City Public Schools” on the side, but the school system insists all of its buses were
That presents a mystery: whose bus was it? And who was driving?
Retired crash team investigator Bob Jones said he’s started with the victims. "The victim’s vehicle has marks and paint scuffs,” Jones said. “The paint transfer can removed and bagged up so when you find the suspect vehicle, they can match it."
Jones said to break out a yard stick, too.
"Measure from the ground to the damage and you can match it height wise to whether a school bus hit it or not," he said.
CBS 6 tried to enhance the video, but we were unable to pull the school district or number off the side. But Jones says the surveillance video is certainly a clue investigators will want to take a close look at in this case.
"It’s unfortunate a bus was involved,” Jones said. The damaged cars can be fixed, but with a bus out that late, that’s not good. It may raise questions about security of the bus.”
Police say they're still in the early stages of their investigation. And Richmond Public Schools say they are still looking into it as well.
CBS 6 will continue to follow this developing story.
