Man will stand trial in LA Metro bus shooting and hijacking ...Middle East

By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH | City News Service

A man accused of fatally shooting a passenger aboard a Metro bus last year, then hijacking the vehicle and sparking a slow-speed police chase from South Los Angeles to downtown, was ordered Thursday to stand trial on murder and other charges.

Following a hearing that took just over a day and included testimony from the bus driver and two of the passengers, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sean D. Coen found there was “sufficient cause” to allow the case against Lamont Campbell, 51, to proceed to trial.

Campbell is charged with one count each of murder, carjacking, kidnapping during a carjacking, assault with a handgun, attempted murder, robbery, felony evading and being a felon in possession of a firearm, along with three counts of kidnapping involving the alleged crimes last Sept. 25.

The shooting and hijacking occurred about 12:45 a.m. that day near Manchester Avenue and Figueroa Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Campbell allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Anthony Rivera once in the thigh aboard the bus, demanded that the bus driver drive the vehicle and then shot at and robbed a female passenger.

The bus driver, Dennis Contreras, testified Thursday that he “said goodbye to my family” after the bus came to a stop after the lengthy police pursuit, saying that he was worried a possible standoff and shooting.

He said he thought he was getting shot and “got very panicky” when police used what they later referred to as “distraction techniques,” adding that officers broke the driver’s side window and pulled him through it to safety.

Contreras — who watched video surveillance footage from the bus in which a female passenger can be heard repeatedly saying that she’s scared — testified that he has had nightmares about her screams.

In testimony Tuesday, the bus driver said he and passengers aboard the bus had gone into “panic mode” after hearing gunshots aboard the bus, saying that he feared he would be shot.

Contreras said a man — whom he was not able to identify in court as Campbell — came to the front of the bus and told him to close the doors and “roll.” He said the man later pointed a gun at him.

The bus driver testified that he pressed the emergency alert system on the bus after the man turned away and was distracted, noting that it would say on the outside of the bus to call 911. He said he bypassed bus stops with passengers who had been waiting to board and honked to alert oncoming vehicles about the bus.

Contreras testified that he stopped at the final stop on the bus route and decided to open the doors so passengers could get out, but said he saw that they weren’t moving because they were in a panic mode and that he wasn’t sure if any of them got out of the bus before the gunman instructed him to close the doors, keep rolling and not to stop for any reason.

At one point, the gunman allowed one passenger to leave the bus but ordered another to remain aboard, and at another point, he was eating and playing music on his cell phone, the bus driver said.

The bus driver said the gunman told him, “You’re supposed to drive this bus … move it …” after the bus became disabled at 6th and Alameda streets as a result of a police spike strip. Contreras said he responded to him that the bus “doesn’t go any more.”

The female passenger, Arzetta Coleman, testified Tuesday that she didn’t hear anyone say anything to the gunman — whom she identified in court as Campbell — or hear the gunman say anything to anyone before he began shooting in Rivera’s direction. She said she didn’t know at the time if Rivera — a fellow employee at Dodger Stadium — had been struck or had dived out of the way of the gunfire.

She said the gunman reloaded his weapon and then confronted her with a demand to move to the back of the bus — something she said she refused to do. She said he demanded her belongings and threatened to shoot her, firing a shot toward her.

“I had to defer to a higher power … I just called on God to help me,” she said, her voice growing emotional as she recounted the ordeal.

When asked if she was afraid, she said, “I don’t think the word afraid is accurate … I thought I was going to die.”

Another passenger, Dewan Jenkins, also identified Campbell as the gunman, saying he was “in shock” and “didn’t know how to react” after the first series of shots. He said he heard the gunman tell the driver to close the doors and drive the bus and subsequently demanding a purse and threatening to shoot a female passenger, with one shot ringing out.

“I get on the floor and try to get out of the bus,” he said, adding that he was halfway inside the bus and halfway outside the bus for about 10 blocks before he was able to force his way out of the bus.

The pursuit began around 117th and Figueroa streets in South Los Angeles after police got a 911 call of unknown trouble aboard a bus and subsequently received additional information about a man with a gun.

LAPD Officer Juan Pantoja said the bus drove off after police demanded that everyone step out of the bus and no one complied, saying that he and his partner began following the bus and witnessed “numerous” traffic violations, including the bus going through red lights, driving the wrong way on a one-way street while going about 15 to 20 mph as officers pursued the bus in a “possible hostage situation.”

The officer said the pursuit lasted about 45 minutes before the bus pulled over after running over one of two spike strips that had been placed in the road.

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SWAT personnel who responded to the bus after it was disabled discovered Rivera, 48, of Los Angeles, down inside the bus. He had been shot once and died after being taken to a hospital.

Another man who was found on the bus when it came to a stop at 6th and Alameda streets subsequently said that he had been asleep, heard a bang and then went back to sleep before he was contacted by police, LAPD Det. Rudy Avelar testified.

Campbell — who allegedly has a string of drug-related convictions dating back as far as 1993 — has remained behind bars since his arrest early that morning.

He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment June 26.

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