DETROIT – We’re digging deeper into the lawsuit involving a woman hit and killed by a DDOT bus in June 2023 in downtown Detroit.
Janice Bauer was in the crosswalk at Congress and Griswold when she was hit and dragged by the bus.
The driver, Geraldine Johnson, was the same one behind the wheel in 2015 when a DDOT bus hit and killed Joey Davis.
In total, Johnson has had seven crashes.
The Bauer family’s attorney, Heather Atnip of Atnip & Associates, released transit police bodycam footage from the scene and is asking the community to help in identifying the passenger Johnson was talking to when Bauer was hit.
“We haven’t been able to locate her,” Atnip said. “From what I understand, the Detroit Police were searching for her, but we don’t have any confirmation she’s been identified.”
She believes that passenger could help clear up what happened the morning Bauer was killed.
“Immediately the passenger departed from the bus and left the scene, so that’s what you see when you see the woman in pink get off the bus,” Atnip said. “Ms. Johnson did not leave the bus or check on Ms. Bauer, Janice, at all and we have no record that she called 911.”
The day Bauer was killed, DDOT transit police body camera shows how much of a reputation Johnson had.
“Ms. Johnson again,” said a DDOT transit police officer to another transit police officer. “You know how many times she hit somebody, kill somebody? Remember what my man said at the law department? He was like, ‘Her again?’ He said, ‘This our third or fourth case with her.’ They knew her name like, ‘We tired of seeing her name.’”
Another officer is heard saying, “We went on the bus accident for the speed bump, and they were like, ‘Her? Again? Seriously?’ and we were like, ‘Well you’re the one who keeps letting her back, not us.’”
Bauer was the middle child of five and was the main companion of her younger sister Linda Bauer, who is disabled.
Linda Bauer and another sister, Margaret Bauer, told Local 4 Johnson shouldn’t have been able to drive another bus after Davis was killed in 2015. They believe their sister Janice’s death was preventable.
“This can’t happen to another family,” Margaret Bauer said.
The lawsuit filed is alleging gross negligence in hiring policies and demanding those change along with monetary compensation.
The city of Detroit declined to comment.