2 bus drivers in fatal Estella car crash ordered arrested

A Quezon City court has issued arrest warrants against  the two bus drivers involved in last May’s fatal car crash which killed veteran journalist and professor Chit Estella.

Judge Ralph Lee of Regional Trial Court Branch 83 ordered the arrest of Daniel Espinosa of Universal Guiding Star Busline and Victor Ancheta of Nova Bus.

In an arrest warrant dated Aug. 8, 2011, the court directed law enforcers to arrest the two drivers for the charge of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with homicide for Estella’s death.

The court set the bail amount for the charge at P30,000 for each of the accused.

Probable cause

Lee issued the arrest warrants after agreeing with the findings of the Quezon City prosecutors’ office that there is probable cause to justify the issuance of the warrants.

Assistant city prosecutor Ronald Torrijos filed charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with homicide against the two for their liability in Estella’s death.

Estella (Lourdes Estella-Simbulan in real life) died on May 13 while riding a taxi on her way to a friends’ gathering at the UP Ayala Land Technohub along Commonwealth Avenue.

Aggravated

Ancheta is the driver of the speeding Nova bus which first sideswiped the taxi the journalist was riding in, while Espinosa’s bus rammed the taxi a few seconds after Ancheta hit it.

Estella died of fatal head injuries after being severely pinned in the backseat of the taxi driven by Vito Jagunos.

The charge was aggravated as both drivers ran away after the mishap and failed to report the accident to police authorities for proper investigation.

Both drivers had denied any liability in the mishap. Espinosa claimed that he only hit the taxi as the Nova bus hit it first and forced the taxi to careen into his path.

Ancheta, on the other hand, denied hitting the taxi at all, even claiming that he did not feel anything that would indicate that he hit the vehicle first.

But Torrijos, in his 13-page resolution, ruled that there was probable cause to file the charges against the bus drivers.

“Thus, the combined or concurrent recklessness of Espinosa and Ancheta was the direct cause of the deceased and property damages to the taxi being driven by Jagunos. Espinosa’s recklessness is as much the proximate cause of the mishap as that of Ancheta,” he said.

No raps vs cabbie

Torrijos also dismissed the reckless imprudence resulting in homicide raps against Jagunos for insufficiency of evidence.

The court has not yet set any date for the accused’s arraignment pending their arrest or posting of the bail amount.