Man recalls woman, 52, killed in bus accident

Her death came within seconds, a Richmond Beach man recalled.

A woman he had a conversation with stepped off a Metro bus at a dark, rainy stop in Shoreline along with her brother on Thursday night. Passengers screamed "she's been hit," and Brian Wasserman saw the "beautiful woman" he had spoken with collapse behind the bus. He ran out the door.

The woman's brother was trying to resuscitate her. Wasserman said when it was apparent the man was too shaken to revive his sister, he began CPR himself.

But Stephanie Reynolds was already near death.

"They [Shoreline medics] took her away from me and two seconds later they covered her up," Wasserman said Friday.

Reynolds, 52, apparently slipped off the curb and fell under the bus, said King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart. The driver, a 20-year Metro employee, is on administrative leave while deputies and Metro investigate.

"We just had this wonderful conversation," said Wasserman, 40. "She said she was going home. She was happy to go home because she had a long day."

Little is known about Reynolds. Her relatives couldn't be reached for comment.

During the past year that he has been a regular bus rider, Wasserman said, he's never seen the woman. "She was the nicest person I've ever met on a bus," he said.

For about 10 minutes, Reynolds' voice soothed Wasserman out of his frustration that the bus picked him up late. They chatted about Judaism and the pope before Reynolds got up at her stop near the base of Northwest Richmond Beach Road in Shoreline.

A Metro spokeswoman said the driver was "very shaken up" by what happened. After the crash, he was tested for drugs and alcohol and interviewed by deputies.

For 18 of his 20 years with Metro, the driver hasn't had any "preventable accidents," Linda Thielke said.

Thielke said it has been 2 ½ years since a Metro driver has been involved in a fatal crash. In November 2003, a Seattle woman was struck and killed near Southcenter mall in Tukwila.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294