Police cite HART bus driver in East Tampa crash that flipped a patrol car
Investigators said the bus entered the intersection against a red light; the officer has been released from the hospital.
TAMPA - Tampa police have cited the driver of a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus for failure to obey a traffic control signal in the Oct. 24 crash that left a patrol car upside down in East Tampa, the department said in an Oct. 26 update.
According to the investigation, the bus was stopped behind an SUV in the southbound straight lane of N. 34th Street at a red light. After the SUV went through the red light to turn right, the bus also moved into the intersection against the steady red, police said.
A marked Tampa police car was heading east on E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard with the right-of-way. Police said the bus struck the patrol car's rear driver-side tire well, spinning it to face north. The car flipped and hit a white Dodge Charger that was stopped in traffic, pushing the Charger onto the east sidewalk and into a low brick border wall.
The officer, a 12-year department veteran, was taken to a hospital with head injuries and back pain and has since been released. Two people on the bus were medically evaluated and released, and the Charger's driver was treated at the scene for a minor leg injury. Police said no critical injuries were reported.
The crash happened about 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. Police did not release the bus driver's name, and the update does not say whether the SUV's driver was cited.
Source: City of Tampa / Tampa Police Department news release, Oct. 24, 2026, updated Oct. 26, 2026.