Police Seek to Reconstruct Fatal Bus Crash

As families and friends mourned the deaths of three Korean Americans struck by an MTA bus as they stepped into a busy intersection, police investigators sought witnesses Friday to determine the cause of the accident.

Los Angeles Police Department detectives said their preliminary investigation indicated that the victims stepped into the crosswalk on Vermont Avenue at Olympic Boulevard on Thursday afternoon the moment a traffic signal turned green, without checking to see if traffic was clear.

The bus, southbound on Vermont, was already in the intersection as the light was changing, and the victims appeared to have stepped into its path without seeing it, investigators said.

Jae Sil Kim, 80, died at the scene. Sam Suck Yang, 78, and Soon Yi Young, 63, died later at hospitals.

“It’s quite possible the pedestrians were just paying attention to the traffic light and stepped in front of the bus,” Det. Mike Farrell said as he stood a few feet from the accident scene Friday.

Less then a minute later, two pedestrians illustrated Farrell’s theory, stepping into the crosswalk without looking.

“Look. Look at that,” Farrell said. “They didn’t even look. The problem is people don’t pay attention.”

No evidence of drugs or alcohol was detected in tests on the bus driver, Elizabeth A. Lyde, 47, the detective said. A full report on the accident is expected next week, authorities said.

“When you walk onto the street, you are putting your life in somebody’s hands,” said Det. Mike Fischer

In Jae Sil Kim’s neatly furnished Koreatown apartment, relatives said the 80-year-old woman was probably on her daily routine of walking around the neighborhood, trying to recruit people to go to her church.

“Her mission was to go out and get people to believe in God,” said her son Ki Kim as he took a break from greeting tearful neighbors who dropped in to pay their respects. One family friend quietly entered the home, took off her shoes, stood in front of a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” and broke down into gasping sobs.

Kim’s grandson was upset with one news report that he said had stated as fact that his grandmother had walked through a red light.

“My grandmother walked every day, and she would not do something like that,” said Jin Kim, 26, adding that she was very outgoing. “I want the MTA and the driver to be held responsible. It was their mistake that killed my grandmother.”

In Diamond Bar, Sam Suck Yang’s grandson said his grandfather was also a safety-conscious walker. “I walked with him to McDonald’s a few times, and I remember how careful he was and how he always told me to be careful when we crossed the street,” Daniel Yang, 16, said softly. He said he could not believe that his grandfather had been killed. “I wish that I could have known my grandfather a lot better.”

In another incident involving an MTA bus, eight passengers suffered minor injuries Friday when their driver braked to avoid a car that swerved in front of the bus in the eastbound lanes of Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, authorities said. The injured were treated at local hospitals.

Times correspondent Sue McAllister contributed to this story.