DETROIT – The driver of a DDOT bus who ran over and killed a woman in Downtown Detroit has been sentenced.
Geraldine Johnson, 61, was behind the wheel of a Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus when Janice Bauer, 67, of Grosse Pointe Park, was killed at around 7:30 a.m. on June 2, 2023, at the intersection of Congress and Griswold streets.
Prosecutors said Johnson was making a left turn onto Griswold Street when she struck and killed Bauer, who was crossing the street on a green light. Medics pronounced Bauer dead at the scene of the crash.
“This case is tragic on every level. Janice Bauer lost her life. The alleged facts are that defendant, Geraldine Johnson, literally ran her over with the city bus she was driving and caused her death,” Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
Johnson was charged with one count of moving violation causing death. She pleaded no contest to the charge on Aug. 26, 2023.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, Johnson was sentenced to two years of probation and one year of jail time. The first six months of her sentence will be served in the Wayne County Jail and the remaining six months will be held in abeyance. If she violates her probation she will serve the last six months in jail.
Johnson was involved in a deadly crash in 2015, a crash in 2018, two crashes in 2019, one crash in 2020, one crash in 2021, and another crash in 2022.
---> DDOT driver charged in deadly crash was involved in 7 other crashes, including deadly 2015 bus crash