By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A Clermont Transportation Connection minibus is prepared to be towed away after it crashed on westbound U.S. 50 in Milford on Thursday morning. A passenger was ejected and killed; three other passengers and the driver were injured. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

MILFORD - A 29-year-old mentally disabled woman was killed Thursday morning after a bus she was riding in crashed into a concrete trestle.

Three other passengers and the driver were taken to Bethesda North Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A Clermont Transportation Connection bus was taking the four MRDD clients to swim when the crash occurred on Wooster Pike about 8:50 a.m. The driver, Robert Baker, 61, of Bethel told police he hit a curb under a railroad bridge and then ran into the concrete wall supporting the bridge, Milford Police Sgt. Terry Sparks said.

The woman who died, Tara L. Davis, was thrown out of the bus, police said. She lived in a group home in Williamsburg with seven others, said MRDD representative Lisa Davis, who is not related to her.

"She was a very nice young woman," Lisa Davis said.

Tara Davis and the three others - who were not identified Thursday - were headed to Stepping Stones Center in Indian Hill to go swimming.

Police said it wasn't clear if the passengers were wearing seat belts, although the 14-passenger bus has them. The bus service, which is operated by Clermont County, bought the Ford E-450 vehicle July 1, according to county spokeswoman Kathy Lehr. It had been in service less than a week, and it's being inspected to ensure it was working properly.

Baker is a retiree of Hamilton County's Metro and had been driving part time for Clermont's door-to-door transportation service since February, Lehr said.

"He did this because he enjoyed it," she said.

The accident closed Wooster Pike until 12:40 p.m., police said. Charges are pending.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com