Inquest Jury Orders Bus Driver Held.
Inquest Jury Orders
Bus Driver Held.

Inquest Jury
Orders Bus
Driver Held

    Henry N. Wyncoop, jr., Capital Transit Co. bus driver was held for Municipal Court action on a negligent homicide charge yesterday in the death of a 73-year-old pedestrian November 4.
    Wyncoop, 21, was charged after a coroner's jury deliberated 40 minutes before ordering that he be held in the death of William C. Ridenour, 1417 Potomac ave. se., fatally injured when he was struck by a bus operated by Wyncoop at Potomac ave. and 15th st. se., October 7.
    According to testimony at the inquest, Ridenour was crossing Potomac ave. from east to west, when he was struck by the bus as it made a left turn from Potomac ave. into 15th st. His death almost a month later was attributed to a fractured skull.
    Wyncoop declined to testify at the inquest, but admitted a statement he gave police the night of the accident. In it, he said his attention was centered on an oncoming truck, which was approaching a stop sign on the west side of Potomac ave., and he failed to see Ridenour until a passenger shouted a warning.
    The bus driver's statement said he was "temporarily blinded" by the lights of eastbound traffic.
    It was disclosed at the inquest that Ridenour had suffered a fall from his bed at Emergency Hospital about a week before his death. However, Dr. Doris Knox of the hospital staff said the fall apparently caused no additional injuries, and his condition remained unchanged.
    Wyncoop, who lives at 405 10th st. ne., was released under $500 bond.


Source:

Unknown, "Inquest Jury Orders Bus Driver Held," The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, 9 November, 1948, p. B2.

Created May 12, 2006; Revised May 12, 2006
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