Metrobus Driver Pleads Guilty

Prosecutors to Seek Limit of 3 Years as Sentence in Deaths

A former Metrobus driver whose careless left turn in downtown Washington killed two pedestrians pleaded guilty to negligent homicide yesterday after prosecutors agreed not to seek a prison sentence of more than three years.

Victor Z. Kolako, 54, who was fired by Metro after the Feb. 14 incident, said little as he stood with his attorney in front of D.C. Superior Court Judge Neal E. Kravitz. Sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 5.

In return for Kolako's guilty pleas to two felony counts of negligent homicide, each punishable by up to five years in prison, the U.S. attorney's office agreed not to prosecute him for manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 30 years on each count.

Standing at the defendant's table and speaking barely above a whisper, Kolako, of Southeast Washington, answered routine questions from the judge.

Then, when Kravitz asked whether Kolako's plea to the first count of negligent homicide was guilty or not guilty, Kolako hesitated, staring down. "Guilty," he said. On the second count, he replied quickly, "Guilty." Kravitz allowed Kolako to remain free until sentencing but ordered him not to drive a motor vehicle.

Kolako, who had worked for Metro since 2000, was driving Metrobus 2129 north on Seventh Street NW, near the Federal Trade Commission building, when he turned left onto Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 6:25 p.m., police said. Officers said he failed to yield to oncoming southbound traffic on Seventh and carelessly failed to notice the two pedestrians, who were obeying a walk signal as they crossed Pennsylvania in a crosswalk.

The victims, Martha Stringer Schoenborn, 59, and Sally Dean McGhee, 54, were friends and neighbors in Alexandria and co-workers at the Trade Commission. They were on their way home from work, headed to the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Metro station. Authorities said the two were pulled under the bus.

A woman in the courtroom yesterday who identified herself as a sister of Schoenborn declined to comment on the pleas. Schoenborn's husband has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Metro in U.S. District Court in Washington, seeking $50 million.

The incident was one of eight crashes involving Metrobuses and pedestrians at Seventh and Pennsylvania in two years, making it one of the city's most dangerous intersections. After the women's deaths, Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. ordered all 2,400 Metrobus drivers to undergo yearly safety training.

Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said yesterday that 32 pedestrians were struck by Metrobuses in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Five of them were killed. The most recent fatality occurred three days after Schoenborn and McGhee were killed, when nursing student Angel Walters, 21, was hit by a Metrobus in the 1300 block of Congress Street SE.

Prosecutor John Soroka told Kravitz that if Kolako's case had gone to trial, authorities would have proved that Kolako failed to exercise "ordinary care" while making the left turn.

Soroka said that a motorist who was driving south on Seventh and had the right of way through the intersection would have testified that Kolako cut in front of him while making the turn, forcing the motorist to slow down suddenly. Soroka said the motorist told authorities that Kolako was looking at him, not at the crosswalk, when he hit the women.

"He cut his turn in such a way that he literally cut off a car headed south and a car making a right on Pennsylvania," the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. "Kolako accelerated, but the victims were in his path."

Although Soroka agreed to seek no more than two consecutive 18-month prison terms in the case, for a total of three years, Kravitz told Kolako that the court could still impose the maximum of five years for each count.

Kolako said he understood, later leaving the courthouse with his attorney, Larry Kupers, a public defender. The former bus driver, wearing a dark gray suit, black shirt and silver tie, walked slowly and silently as news cameras swarmed around.

"I'm sorry," Kupers said. "We're not answering any questions."