Bus driver held without bail after driving over passenger

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Calling the alleged actions of Bloomfield resident and NJ Transit bus driver Fayola Howard “horrific” in the death of a passenger, Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler said at her Feb. 24 arraignment that Howard would not be allowed to post bail. She entered a plea of not guilty.

Howard, 34, a 2005 Bloomfield High School graduate, is charged with vehicular homicide in the death on Jan. 6 of Kevin Thomas, 55, of Newark. The incident happened on Sanford Avenue, near Mount Vernon Place in Newark. According to NJT spokeswoman Nancy Snyder, Howard had worked as an NJT bus driver since February 2006.

It was alleged in court by Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Wells that, on Dec. 31, 2019, Howard closed the bus door on Thomas’ arm as he was preparing to board. She then drove away, despite his shouts, as he ran beside the vehicle with his arm trapped. After about 20 yards, Wells said Thomas’ arm came free and he fell beneath the bus. He died six days later from injuries. Howard, who drove away, is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident, leaving an injured person and falsifying records. She was arrested on Feb. 18, while boarding a flight to Trinidad, but in court it was said that a one-way ticket had been purchased before the incident and that she had an email confirmation of a return flight. Her attorney is Michael Robbins.

Appealing for bail, Robbins said Howard had no criminal history and did not know an arrest warrant had been issued for her.

“She’s been in this country since she was 15,” he said. “Witnesses on the bus didn’t know Thomas was struck. How could she?”

According to Wells, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office had contacted Howard after the incident for a statement. At first, she spoke to the Prosecutor’s Office but then stopped, saying she needed an attorney. After that, her whereabouts became unknown.

“She knew we were looking for her,” Wells said, adding that, if given the chance, she would “make flight.”

But Robbins said his client was not obligated to speak to the prosecutor and, when arrested at Newark International Airport, was not running away.

“It appeals to our worst angels that she was leaving and not coming back,” he said.

His client was not going on a vacation, Robbins said, but wanted to be with people close to her because of what she was going through.

Arguing against bail, Wells said Thomas had been a passenger on the bus with a female companion when they noticed that a woman, who just departed, had forgotten her bag. Both Thomas and his companion went after her to return it. Thomas’ companion then reboarded, but the door closed on him.

“The bus pulls away with his arm stuck,” Wells said. “He’s running alongside the bus. He’s yelling at her. Howard is yelling at him to remove his hand.”

Wells said, at a right turn, Thomas’ arm came free and he fell beneath the bus. Another motorist saw this and drove alongside the bus, yelling for it to stop. But Thomas drives away, and, when the bus is put out of service, she voluntarily reports the incident, but not accurately.

“She did not apprehend that Kevin Thomas was struck,” Robbins said.

“His arm was trapped,” Wells said, “but she wouldn’t stop.”

“The only thing she didn’t know was that he was run over,” Robbins said.

Wigler spoke directly to Howard.

“It was a horrific incident that took place,” he said, “well documented by surveillance cameras and by witnesses on the bus. For some unknown reason, you closed the door on Mr. Thomas’ arm and pulled away.”

Wigler called that outrageous.

“By all accounts, witnesses were yelling at you to stop the bus and you did not,” he said. “It’s perplexing.”

But Wigler acknowledged that possibly she did not know Thomas had been run over.

“The state has a strong case against you,” he said. “If you went to trial, you would get 5 to 10 years in prison and 85 percent must be served before parole. Even without a prior record, you’re looking at years in prison.”

Wigler said he considered Howard a danger to society if released and her actions “callous and depraved.”

“You will be detained upon the outcome of the case,” he said, concluding the hearing.

The next scheduled hearing is Friday, March 20.