SEATTLE — A Metro bus driver suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol was arrested after hitting a pedestrian in downtown Seattle on busy Third Avenue.
The crash happened around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday near Stewart Street, shattering one of the windows on the bus and injuring a man.
Police said the man walked in front of the moving bus.
According to passengers on the bus, the pedestrian was hit by bike racks on the bus and then struck the windshield.
The impact caused the man to land about 15 feet down the street.
Witnesses said they tried to stop the injured man from leaving the scene, but he was disoriented and left.
The victim, 32-year-old man, was found by medics at a Starbucks on Fourth Avenue and Pine Street.
He was transported to Harborview Medical Center with serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries.
Seattle police called a drug recognition expert to the scene to evaluate the bus driver.
Based on his observation, the expert determined that the driver was exhibiting signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officers said.
The driver was arrested and a blood draw was taken at the hospital, the results of which are pending.
Following the blood draw, the driver was released to Metro Transit supervisors, Seattle police said.
A Metro Transit spokesperson said that Metro tested the driver with an alcohol Breathalyzer and he was cleared. They are awaiting drug-use blood test results.
Police are continuing to investigate.
KIRO
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