Bus Accident Probe Finds 2 Killed Were Standing on Seats

Double-Decker Had Clearance, Police Say

Two men riding on the open top tier of a double-decker bus in the District were standing on their seats the night of July 11 when their heads hit a freeway overpass, D.C. police said yesterday, adding that "alcohol may have been involved" in the fatal accident.

The men, co-workers at a Virginia landscaping operation, were among 16 passengers being shuttled from the RFK Stadium parking lot to a game at Nationals Park near the Anacostia River and South Capitol Street. Police said at the time that witnesses on the bus gave conflicting accounts of how the men died.

But the department said yesterday that in a nearly two-month inquiry that included a reconstruction of the accident, the Major Crash Investigation Unit determined that the two men were standing on their seats, despite signs warning passengers not to do so.

The victims, Michael Feiock, 35, of Centreville and Joshua Stoll, 24, of Sterling suffered massive trauma when their heads struck the 11th Street overpass as the bus was traveling west on the Southeast Freeway. They were on a company outing with other employees from the Fairfax office of the Brickman Group, a landscaping firm.

The bus is 13 feet high, according to its owner, Open Top Sightseeing. If a passenger of typical height is seated on the upper tier of the bus, the person's head does not protrude above the top. The overpass is 14 feet 9 inches above the freeway. Assistant Police Chief Patrick Burke said that if Feiock and Stoll had been seated, "there wouldn't have been a problem at all."

Citing toxicology tests performed on the men's remains by the D.C. medical examiner's office, police said yesterday that alcohol consumed by Feiock and Stoll that night might have contributed to their behavior. Burke declined to specify their blood-alcohol levels.

After the reconstruction, done Aug. 24, investigators concluded that Stoll "was standing on the first seat on the right side of the bus" while Feiock "was standing on the left side of the bus," police said in a statement.

Stoll, a Fairfax County native and landscaping supervisor for the company, was engaged to marry his high school sweetheart this month. Feiock, who grew up in Penn Yan, N.Y., and moved to Virginia in 2006, was an account manager for Brickman.

It was unclear yesterday how fast the bus was moving, but Burke said the investigation found that speed "was not a factor" in the accident.

Open Top Sightseeing, which operates double-decker tour buses in Washington and San Francisco, stopped taking part in the shuttle bus service between RFK and Nationals Park after the accident.

"I'm not going to be able to talk about any part of the investigation," company spokesman Tom Alexander said when asked about the police findings yesterday. "It would be inappropriate for us to comment."