A baby died this afternoon when a bus on Boulevard East near 56th Street in West New York went out of control and struck a lamppost, which in turn struck the baby who was in a carriage, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office said.

Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari said the baby was 8-months-old.

He identified the baby as Angelie Paredes of 79th Street in North Bergen.

Schillari said driver distraction might have caused the fatality and speed may have been a factor.

Rosemarie Suarez, a resident at the Overlook Terrace apartments, saw the tragedy unfold from her balcony.

"I feel horrible," Suarez told The Jersey Journal. "There's blood on the floor."

The grieving mother, Maylin Hago, the child, and the bus driver wearing a neck brace, were all taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, officials said.

West New York Police Officer Michael Stetson said when he arrived to the scene, the mother was screaming hysterically and crying. The baby was bleeding from the head and there was no pulse, he said.

He immediately applied CPR to the infant. "After CPR, she was gasping every third breath," Stetson said of the child.

Asked if he ever tried to save a life before, Stetson, who has 6- and 8-year-old daughters and an 11-year-old son, replied, "Not for a baby ... You're not thinking, you're just doing."



According to resident Jose Serra, the bus was stopped at a bus stop at Boulevard East near 56th Street. When it took off after dropping off passengers, the wheels began to spin and the vehicle seemingly went out of control.

It crashed into the lamppost that struck the carriage, and then proceeded to strike a tree and another lamppost on Boulevard East, Serra said.

The bus then ran into a parked car, creating a chain reaction that involved at least three other parked cars, Serra said.

A person who answered the phone at the Sphinx bus company based in Ridgefield said no one was available to speak to the press.

Juan Navarrrete he heard the crash and the mother screaming from his 21st-floor apartment across the street. He and another tenant rushed down to the street to help, he said. He saw Stetson applying CPR.

"That officer worked so hard," Navarrrete said. "He was trying to keep her alive."

Seeing the little girl in distress, Navarrete said he broke down.

"You don't know the person, but that's a human being," he said. "I really cried over there."

Navarette said he saw the driver of the bus placed in a neck brace. Four people who were in one of the parked cars involved in the chain-reaction crash were also taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, officials said.

"It's a human tragedy to have this kind of event in West New York," said Mayor Felix Roque, who is on the scene. "It's sad."

Schillari said his office is working with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit to investigate the incident. The bus driver is being questioned at the Jersey City Medical Center and is under guard, Schillari said. Officials at the Medical Center said this afternoon the bus driver is 48-years-old and in stable condition.

"The bus went out of control," said West New York Police Director Robert Antolos. "We don't know why. That's part of the investigation."

The family of Angelie, including her father Jairo Paredes, gathered at the Jersey City Medical Center this evening. Through hospital officials, they declined to be interviewed.

The incident occurred in front of the Donnelly Memorial Park.

Journal staff writers Michaelangelo Conte, Yarleen Hernandez, Anthony Machcinski, Marli Horwitz and Ken Thorbourne contributed to this report.