Bus death: "a bump and fall"

Though Betty Simon didn't say much to neighbors in her North Seattle neighborhood, she was quick with a smile.

Simon, a mother of two grown sons and an employee at a North Seattle Jack in the Box, died Wednesday after she fell backward into the street at a downtown Metro bus stop and was run over by an articulated bus. A 53-year-old Seattle man was arrested early Thursday and released after police say he bumped into Simon as she waited for a bus.

"She was a really nice lady," said Lynne Gadbow, program coordinator at Aki Kurose Village, the low-income housing complex where Simon lived. "She kept to herself. But when I talked to her, she was nice and polite."

Simon, 46, had been waiting for a bus on Third Avenue near Macy's, between Stewart and Pine streets, just before 6:20 p.m. when a bicyclist caused her to lose her balance, said Seattle police spokesman Rich Pruitt. Simon was struck by two of the center tires on the 60-foot bus.

"It was a bump and a fall. She fell backward and died instantly," Pruitt said. "We're looking at it as an accident."

The bicyclist was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and released on his own recognizance.

Witnesses told police that the cyclist, after bumping Simon, waited around for about a minute before slowly riding south on Third Avenue. Police caught up with the bicyclist after a witness found him hiding behind a trash bin.

Witnesses also told police the man wobbled as he rode his bike. Police said he had watery eyes, slurred his words, struggled to maintain his balance and smelled of alcohol, according to arresting papers released by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Though Seattle municipal code permits bicyclists to ride on city sidewalks, cyclists must yield to pedestrians.

"By running into somebody it shows he failed to yield the right of way," Pruitt said, adding that the man hasn't been cited for riding illegally.

Gadbow, Simon's landlord, said Simon moved to the complex near Northwest Hospital & Medical Center earlier this year and lived alone. She said Simon's sons are in their late teens and early 20s and live in the Seattle area.

Employees of the Jack in the Box at Aurora Avenue North and Northeast 85th Street declined to talk about their co-worker.

"I was so upset when I heard the news," Gadbow said. "I had just talked to her a week ago today."

The driver of the bus has been with King County Metro for only about a year. She was taken to Swedish Medical Center after the crash to be evaluated, said Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke. She said that, as is routine after bus accidents, the driver was tested for drugs and alcohol and placed on administrative leave.

Simon's death marked the second time in recent months a woman has been killed after falling underneath a Metro bus.

On June 1, a 52-year-old woman was killed in Shoreline when she stepped off a bus near Northwest Richmond Beach Road and 15th Avenue Northwest. Stephanie Reynolds, of Shoreline, apparently slipped and fell off the rainy curb and under the bus.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com