FAX Bus driver in deadly hit and run crash pleads not guilty

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno City FAX bus driver walked into a courtroom Friday morning with the support of his two sons and daughter. 69-year-old Rudy Alderette is facing vehicular manslaughter and hit and run charges, after he hit and killed a man on his morning bus route a few weeks ago, without stopping.

Defense Attorney Marc Kapetan said, "Rudy has three kids, he's always been a very good father, he's a very quiet man from what I know and very good-hearted from what I know."

Aldarette claims he thought he hit a box, so he kept going.

"I think from the moment that he found out that he was told there was a death as a result of this I think he was surprised he was highly distraught it came as a shock to him too," Kapetan said.

Horrific surveillance video shows the last few moments of 62-year-old Javier Silvas' life -- the husband and father who was hit and killed as he was stepping into a crosswalk on a green light at Fruit and Shields by the FAX bus Aldarette was driving. His family is now suing the City of Fresno.

Legal analyst Mark Broughton said, "If there's a bump related to running over a pop bottle in the street that's one thing, but if the bus were to bounce two or three feet off the ground, that would be another thing. It would be circumstantial evidence that he knew or that he should have stopped."

Aldarette worked for the city for almost twenty years, his attorney says he has no criminal record.

"I think the city the bus department and everybody is going to be very interested in finding out how this occurred and finding out whether there is something wrong with procedures or something wrong with the actual bus itself that may have contributed to the cause of this accident," Kapetan said.

Aldarette is out of jail on $6,000 bail and is due back in court again at the end of February.