Bus crash ‘coverup’

MTA ‘hides facts’

The MTA has mobile crash squads around the city that swoop down on the scenes of bus collisions — and orchestrate coverups, a lawyer charges.

“It’s all about damage control,” said attorney Michael Gunzburg, who represents an injured bus rider.

No fewer than 10 MTA investigators descended on the crash site where his client was hurt — several arriving even before ambulances, he claims.

An army of MTA supervisors in every borough — at least five in Queens alone — are given cars and assigned to pounce when bus accidents happen, according to court testimony. They do measurements, interview witnesses, take photographs and write reports for risk management and claims.

Queens MTA worker Victor Santiago told a court last week he’s dashed to hundreds of bus accidents — “one or two a day or more.”

In his case, Gunzburg argued, the MTA either failed to gather evidence or hid it.

“They come in and try to cover up the accident,” he told a Queens Civil Court last week. “This is how they handle all accidents.”

The jury agreed. On Friday, it found the MTA and bus driver Dameion Soman (above, right) 100 percent negligent in the 2007 crash on Parsons Boulevard and the Grand Central Parkway service road. The crash allegedly caused disabling injuries to passenger Manuel Reyes (above, left), 43, a former cabby and father of two.

Reyes told cops that the driver sped up and ran a red light, then smashed into a car and hit the brakes.

Soman testified last week that he had a green light.

Gunzburg cited the MTA’s missing or faulty evidence. Among the examples:

No MTA photos showed where the bus stopped after the crash. Reyes testified it careened across two southbound lanes. But an MTA diagram suggests it stayed in the northbound lanes, and photos show it in different spots. “They moved the bus,” Gunzburg said.

MTA investigators took statements from all or most of 14 bus passengers, including five at the hospital, but produced only Reyes’ statement.

Santiago testified a colleague downloaded a “black box”-like device, which records the bus’ speed and braking, but that information wasn’t provided.

“There were 10 [MTA responders] there. What happened to all their work product?” Gunzburg said after the verdict.

MTA lawyer Manuel Reynoso denied a “conspiracy” to hide or skew the evidence, saying all reports and photos were turned over. He called the cover-up charge “absolute nonsense.”

“Yes, 10 people came to the scene,” he told the jury, adding sarcastically, “I apologize that the MTA takes these things seriously.”

The same six-member jury will return on Monday to determine damages and compensation for Reyes.