RIPTA Bus Involved In Hit-And-Run Accident Thursday

PORTSMOUTH, RI — A RIPTA bus was involved in a hit-and-run accident on March 30 while traveling north on East Main Road near Eyler Street, police said. According to the accident report, the bus was in the right lane when a box truck attempted to pass. The truck struck the bus on the driver's side mirror.

The bus driver, Daniel P. Silva, 59, of Smithfield, moved over to avoid a collision, but the bus' passenger-side mirror then hit a utility pole and was sheared off. Silva stopped the bus in the road.

He told police the other vehicle was a box truck with the name Thomsen Finest on the back panel. He provided the registration number.

But the number came back to a green Ford. Police searched for Thomsen Finest and found a company by the same name in Riverside. The management confirmed one of the company's box trucks had been in the Portsmouth area at the time of the accident.

The truck driver was identified as William E. Konicki, 58, of Cumberland. He gave police a statement saying he did not stop because he was unaware an accident had occurred.