Woman Crashes Into School Bus Carrying 41 Students After Fleeing Police

A traffic stop over two broken brake lights ended with a woman fleeing police and crashing into a school bus carrying 41 students on Wednesday, September 23.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said deputies stopped a silver Kia Forte on Hillsborough Avenue West at about 4:36 p.m. and later developed probable cause to search the vehicle.

Officials identified the driver as 54-year-old Tonnetta Evans. Deputies said they tried to get her out of the Kia, but she put the car in drive and fled east with a deputy still partly inside.

The Kia then struck a Hillsborough County school bus carrying 41 Pierce Middle School students, along with a driver and an aide. No students were reported injured.

The Kia had been reported stolen in Kentucky in 2022, according to HCSO.

Bodycam footage shows the initial traffic stop and Evans being arrested later on the roadway. Deputies order her out of the vehicle before taking her to the ground and handcuffing her beside a concrete barrier.

Evans faces charges including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, aggravated fleeing to elude, armed possession of methamphetamine, battery on a law enforcement officer and leaving the scene of a crash involving a school bus.

Sheriff Chad Chronister said investigators later linked a pipe bomb and drugs to the case.