Driver Hurt After Hitting Car, Bus

Authorities say a man ran a red light and collided with a car and a crowded Ventura Unified School District bus before rolling his car onto its side Thursday afternoon.

No students were injured in the 3:45 p.m. crash at the intersection of Ventura and Larmier avenues in Oak View.

But the man suspected of running the red light, whom authorities identified as 75-year-old Henry Leonardo of Oak View, was taken by ambulance to Ojai Valley Community Hospital with minor injuries.

California Highway Patrol Officer Christopher Sherry said Leonardo ran the red light as he drove west on Larmier Avenue. Brianne McGrath of Camarillo was heading south on Ventura Avenue when the crash occurred. The light at Larmier had turned green and she drove through the intersection. About halfway through, her car was struck on the front driver’s side by Leonardo’s Ford Escort.

“He just ran the red light,” McGrath said. “Thank God I wasn’t going fast.”

After striking McGrath’s vehicle, the Escort hit the right front bumper of the bus that was stopped on Larmier, waiting to turn left onto Ventura Avenue.

“We were just sitting here at the red light when he came across and hit us,” said Sharon Thorpe, driver of the 78-passenger bus.

After bumping the bus, the Ford ran up an embankment at the southwest corner of the intersection and into a fence. “Then it just rolled over on its side,” said Jennifer Velez-Noble, of Oak View, who was among the 50 students on the bus.

McGrath’s vehicle did not sustain major damage, and she was able to drive away from the scene. The bus was on the road again at about 4:20 p.m.

The investigation is continuing.