8 May 30th-June 5th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Killer Commute A woman was strangled on a Phoenix bus. Now the driver is getting sued. BY TJ L’HEUREUX N early two years ago, 41-year- old Diane Craig was stran- gled to death on a Valley Metro bus. The high-profile trial of her accused murderer, Joshua Bagley, is scheduled for September, but now Craig’s father is suing the company that operates the bus and its driver for their roles in his daughter’s death. Attorneys for Edward Craig filed the suit in Maricopa County Superior Court on May 2 against Transdev Services Inc., and driver Bennie Bruce. Transdev has part- nered with Phoenix for more than 50 years to operate much of the city’s transit opera- tions. The suit accused the company and Bruce, who was driving the bus while Craig was strangled, of gross negligence for failing to protect her from harm. “Hopefully this lawsuit brings justice for the family and brings some sort of peace in the future,” Benjamin Taylor, an attorney representing the Craig family, told Phoenix New Times. “What happened to Ms. Craig was tragic. This could have been prevented.” Transdev did not respond to New Times’ request for comment on the lawsuit and its policies for employees. No attorney information was listed for Bruce on the court’s case portal. Heard a scream On May 6, 2022, Craig boarded a Valley Metro bus at 7:10 a.m. at the 22nd Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road stop. Bagley boarded at the same time, and the two sat next to each other in the back of the bus, according to the lawsuit and police records. Soon after, Bagley allegedly began choking Craig with the straps of her purse, killing her and pushing her to the floor between two rows of seats. He then moved to the front of the bus and later exited when it stopped at a QuikTrip. It wasn’t until 7:57 a.m. — 47 minutes after Bagley and Craig boarded the bus — that Bruce found Craig unresponsive in the back of the vehicle. Bruce called 911, and police conducted a manhunt to track down Bagley and arrested him on May 10. The lawsuit claimed Bruce should have noticed the attack when it happened. The driver “failed to take any action despite hearing Diane scream from the back of the bus,” according to the complaint, “which allowed Bagley to continue his assault of Diane over the course of several minutes.” It also claimed Bruce failed to check on the cause of the scream, stop the bus or even look into his rearview mirrors. Police records indicate that Bruce told officers “he heard a light scream, but not a panic scream” and that he “assumed they (Diane and Joshua) were having fun.” Bruce told police that he checked his rearview mirror “but did not observe anything because he could not see to the back of the bus,” according to a police summary of the interview. Police measurements taken from the scene indicate the accordion bus was 52 feet long on the inside and loud due to its engine, which was located in its rear, and its air conditioning system. A third passenger boarded the bus at a later stop and exited further down the route. Bruce told police he assumed Craig had gotten off the bus, as well — in part because Bagley had relocated to a seat in the front. Bruce then stopped the bus, telling Bagley he was going to use the bath- room at a QuickTrip, according to the police report. Bruce locked the doors of the bus with Bagley, and Craig’s body inside. When Bruce returned, Bagley had exited the bus. Because Bagley had opened the bus doors without the driver’s permission, Bruce told him he couldn’t reboard. Bruce continued on his route, picking up and dropping off another passenger along the way. Then, assuming the bus was empty, he parked the bus and conducted a walk-through to check for garbage and lost items. That’s when he found Craig’s body. Bruce called 911, and Craig was taken to Banner – University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Damages sought The lawsuit seeks damages for wrongful death, as well as compensatory damages, punitive damages and special damages for expenses incurred as a result of Craig’s death. No trial date has been set. About a year ago, the Craig family also sued the sheriff’s offices of Maricopa and Mohave counties. The lawsuit alleged Maricopa County, which booked Bagley on three felony charges and five misde- meanors, failed to extradite Bagley to Mohave County for a February 2022 vehicle theft charge despite a May 2 warrant to do so. Bagley even brought up the warrant during his initial court appear- ance, but no prosecutor was present. Bagley was released from custody May 3, 2022 — without having to pay any of his $750 bond — because the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office decided not to file charges, instead sending it back to the Goodyear Police Department for further investigation. Three days later, he allegedly killed Craig. The suit against the sheriff departments was dismissed in April of this year. Bagley’s murder trial has been delayed multiple times since his arrest, including while the county attorney’s office deter- mined whether or not to seek the death penalty, ultimately opting against doing so. The trial was scheduled to begin next week but on May 13 was reset to Sept. 18. Court documents from January 2024 show that Bagley’s attorneys may use insanity as a defense in his criminal trial. Transdev, which operates much of the city of Phoenix’s fixed-route bus operations, is being sued over a 2022 homicide that took place on a Valley Metro bus. (Photo by Matt Hennie) | NEWS | Garbage Begone Adios, junk piles: Phoenix will pick up bulk trash by appointment only. BY CASSIE BRUCCI L ast December, while many home- owners in Phoenix awaited the arrival of Santa Claus, residents of the North Park Central neighborhood were on the lookout for garbage trucks. Just as Christmas approached, so did one of the neighborhood’s four periods for bulk trash pickup. Heaping piles of trash lined the streets for weeks during the holiday season, giving the Central Phoenix community a less-than-festive air. “It’s so hard to have neighborhood pride,” said local resident Daniel Duran, “when this constantly happens.” Indeed, trash pickup delays and the garbage pileups they cause have been a subject of consternation in neighbor- hoods throughout Phoenix. That’s why Duran applauded when he learned that the City of Phoenix will make what he feels is a much-needed change. On May 15, the city announced a plan to combat growing frustration over bulk trash collection. Beginning on Sept. 30, bulk trash pickup will be scheduled by appointment. According to Phoenix Public Works Department superintendent Robert Lopez, the change was prompted by feed- back residents provided about the present system. Currently, bulk trash pickup oper- ates on a quarterly schedule, allocating four collection days each year. Those days vary by neighborhood. But pickups don’t always happen on time, and Lopez said concern about the lax collection schedule — especially around holidays — has been mounting since 2022. To address the issue, Phoenix worked closely with the City of Peoria, which rolled out its own appointment-based bulk trash program last year. Lopez is optimistic that the new program will improve trash collection for both resi- dents and Public Works employees — resulting in fewer streets lined with detritus and pickups that occur when they’re supposed to. “We’ve already determined how many collections we can do on any given day,” Lopez said. “If we start to run into staffing issues, we can reduce the number of available collections per day, but that still won’t impact customers.” How will the program work? Beginning Aug. 30, according to a press release from the city, residents can schedule a collection date >> p 11
