16 hospitalized, some in critical condition, after stolen car hits MTA bus in East Baltimore, police say

Sixteen people were hospitalized Thursday after a car carrying young people that police say was stolen struck a Maryland Transit Administration bus at an East Baltimore intersection.

The 12 people on the bus, including the driver, and the four youths who were riding in the red sedan were all taken to nearby hospitals, including three trauma centers, officials said. Most of them had minor injuries, but several were in critical or serious condition, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley said two of the young people were among the most critically injured. One bus rider had to be extricated from the bus.

Worley said officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle and were attempting to make a traffic stop when the car sped away.

“I do know they followed it for a little bit before they got the hit it was a stolen vehicle, and that’s when they tried to stop it,” Worley said.

As the vehicle continued to flee, police said, officers requested a Foxtrot helicopter to track the car. At around 12:48 p.m., officers witnessed the car strike the MTA bus at the intersection of East Oliver and North Wolfe streets, just north of the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus, Worley said.

The car was traveling eastbound on East Oliver Street and the MTA bus was heading south on North Wolfe, officials said. East Oliver has a stop sign at the intersection, North Wolfe does not.

Chakia Fennoy, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Police Department, said the crash occurred in the 1500 block of North Wolfe Street. Police confirmed that the red sedan was stolen, and Worley said police believe the four young occupants stole it.

Police investigators plan to review video footage from the MTA bus, Worley said.

Both East Oliver and North Wolfe streets were closed after the crash.

MTA officials referred questions to the police department.

“I’m heartbroken by the bus crash in East Baltimore earlier today,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a social media post. “Both Dawn and I are praying for everyone involved and are incredibly grateful to the first responders on the site of the crash. My team will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.”

The bus operates on the CityLink Gold route, which includes a nearly 2-mile section southbound on Wolfe Street.

The bus appeared to have been struck on the right side, with damage just behind the front right wheel and half of the windshield missing.

This is the latest crash involving a bus this year. In July, more than 30 people were injured when an MTA bus careened down a street in a commercial area in Pikesville before crashing into a building. Later that month, a school bus carrying students from the Maryland School for the Blind crashed into a Parkville pharmacy after being cut off, injuring three, police said.

In June, 12 people were injured after an MTA bus and a work van collided in West Baltimore. A month before that, an MTA bus and three cars collided in Anne Arundel County, killing a 33-year-old woman. And in March, eight people were hospitalized after an MTA bus and two cars crashed in Midtown-Belvedere.