Hillsborough deputies say a woman fleeing in a stolen car with a deputy partly inside hit a school bus carrying 41 students. No one was hurt.
A woman accused of fleeing a Hillsborough County traffic stop with a deputy partially inside her car crashed into a school bus carrying 41 middle school students, deputies said.
No students, the bus driver or the bus aide were injured, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said they stopped a silver Kia Forte about 4:36 p.m. Tuesday on West Hillsborough Avenue, just west of North Dale Mabry Highway. During the stop, deputies said they developed probable cause to search the car and tried to remove the driver, identified as 54-year-old Tonnetta Evans.
The sheriff’s office said Evans was uncooperative, put the vehicle in drive and fled east on Hillsborough Avenue with a deputy partially inside the car.
Before deputies could begin a pursuit, Evans allegedly struck a school bus carrying 41 Pierce Middle School students. The bus had minor damage, and the students were transferred to another bus and taken home, deputies said.
Evans was taken into custody near the Howard and Armenia avenues ramp to southbound Interstate 275.
Deputies said the Kia had been reported stolen out of Kentucky in 2022. A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up a pipe bomb or explosive device, brass knuckles, a Taser, shotgun shells, identification and credit cards belonging to other people, $1,100 in counterfeit $100 bills, methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription pills.
Evans faces charges including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, aggravated fleeing to elude, armed possession of methamphetamine, leaving the scene of a crash involving a school bus, possession of other people’s identification and several drug-related counts.
The sheriff’s office said Evans also was arrested on a Kentucky warrant. Investigators described her as an 11-time convicted felon, with prior convictions in Indiana and Kentucky.
“This suspect showed a complete disregard for the safety of our deputy, other motorists and the children of our community,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “We are extremely fortunate that no one was seriously hurt.”
