Police Investigating After RTA Bus Runs Over Lakewood Man

A few questions remain after an RTA bus ran over a Lakewood man as he tried to catch the No. 26 bus early Monday morning.

One thing is for certain: Joseph Milan, 46, remains in critical condition at MetroHealth Medical Center.

Police have said Milan was running late to catch the No. 26 bus at around 5 a.m. Monday, when he banged on the side door, tripped and was trampled under the weight the of the bus.

He was left crushed and mangled on the street waiting for help to arrive. An EMS crew and police arrived — along with an official from RTA — after a Lakewood woman stopped to help.

But the driver wasn’t tracked down and interviewed until Tuesday.

“He had no idea anything at all had taken place,” said Capt. Gary Sprague.

The woman who stopped to help Milan isn’t so sure. She told Lakewood Patch that Milan told her that he thought the driver had seen him approaching the bus.

When officers interviewed the driver — neither the police nor RTA have provided his name — no sobriety tests were taken, because there was “no cause,” Sprague said.

“(There’s) no indication that the driver did anything wrong,” he added.

It’s not clear whether the bus was equipped with a GPS tracker that could have located the driver sooner.

Sprague said that RTA has been cooperative during the investigation.

However, RTA officials have declined requests for comment, and have not shared the organization’s procedures and policies in the instance of a crash.

Meanwhile, Milan was still listed in critical condition Tuesday afternoon.

Friends posted well-wishes on Lakewood Patch and on his Facebook profile.

“He’s a good guy,” Ryan Salo, a friend in the Lakewood Republican Organization, told Lakewood Patch. “We’re keeping him in our prayers."