SAN JOSE, Calif. – In the name of public health and safety, Californians have been continually ordered to wear masks to combat COVID-19, a strategy that is hotly contested. Authoritarians in the state have belittled anyone not in compliance, while they have shirked their own rules at every turn.
Now reports have surfaced that a San Jose woman was killed after being denied entry to a public bus operated by the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) since she was not wearing a face mask.
The woman tragically died after falling and getting run over by the bus as it pulled away the stop, the Daily Wire reported.
Therefore, the State of California does not have to worry about Lucy Prieto Frescas spreading coronavirus. She was identified as the woman who died.
Preito Frescas, 59, was denied entry to the VTA bus in San Jose since she refused to wear a face mask as required by policy in Santa Clara County, California.
As the bus was departing, Prieto Frescas reportedly tripped. As she went to the ground the woman wound up beneath the bus and was subsequently run over by the rear wheels.
According to San Jose VTA — which operates the bus in question — the driver did not proceed until the woman was safely on the sidewalk. However, she ran after the bus and somehow fell and wound up beneath the rear wheels unbeknownst to the driver.
The traffic collision occurred on February 9, but the woman didn’t pass away from her injuries until February 21, The Mercury News reported.
According to the local news outlet, both VTA as well as the woman’s brother are unclear as to what exactly transpired during the conversation when Prieto Frescas was told she had to wear a mask.
The Mercury News noted:
Stacey Hendler Ross, a VTA spokesperson, said the woman tried to board the Route 73 bus at the front door. When the driver told her she couldn’t ride, she returned to the sidewalk and as the bus pulled away she stepped off the curb and “chased after the coach and fell.”
“I don’t know the specific exchange between them except that she refused to put a mask on,” Hendler Ross said.
VTA bus drivers have had masks to share with riders during the pandemic although they often run out, said Armando Barbosa, a veteran driver.
Rudolfo Frescas is the deceased woman’s brother. He provided a few more details about the circumstances, saying his sister had “difficulty with rules that lots of people normally had to abide by” and that it was a tragic end to “a pretty difficult life.”
Hendler Ross also said the bus driver began working for VTA this past summer. He returned to work two days after the incident once he passed a sobriety and drug test, The Mercury News reported.
“[The driver] didn’t know that the person was going to run after the bus behind him,” said Hendler Ross. “As far as he knew he pulled away from the curb in a safe manner.”
John Courtney, the VTA union president, noted, “It’s a very confusing situation” due to the on-again, off-again mask policies throughout the state. “Passengers don’t always know they need to wear masks,” he said.
Currently in California, masks are no longer required in most indoor and public settings, but they are required on public transportation, the Daily Wire reported.
Furthermore, Santa Clara County still mandates COVID-19 coverings in indoor settings.
