A bus driver’s apparent snafu caused an MTA bus parked on the Ridgewood/Bushwick border early on Wednesday morning to roll down the street for several blocks, smashing into parked cars before coming to rest at a church, police reported.
Law enforcement sources said the trouble began at 12:25 a.m. on June 21, when a female MTA bus driver operating an empty Q58 bus parked the vehicle at the corner of Palmetto Street and Wyckoff Avenue.
The Q58, based out of the Fresh Pond Depot in Ridgewood, operates between the Ridgewood Intermodal Terminal at the corner of Myrtle and Wyckoff avenues and Main Street in Flushing.
The driver left the bus believing she had left it in park, but according to police, the bus gear was left in neutral. Shortly after the driver exited, police said, the bus started rolling backward, heading southbound on Palmetto Street toward Irving and Knickerbocker avenues.
As many as 10 vehicles were hit by the bus, but fortunately no people were struck. NBC New York reported that one man — who had been checking a tire on one of the vehicles — saw the bus coming and was able to get out of its way before it could hit him. He was hospitalized with a minor injury.
Police said the bus finally came to a stop after smashing into a van and a column of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, located at the corner of Knickerbocker Avenue and Palmetto Street in Bushwick. The church did not suffer any major structural damage, authorities said.
An MTA spokesperson said the incident remains under investigation.
