Truck driver dead after collision with SK school bus

By Eli Meyer Port Orchard Independent • September 30, 2022 1:30 am
Officers on scene at the intersection of SW Sidney and Spruce. The school bus involved in the wreck can be seen in the background. Courtesy Photo
Officers on scene at the intersection of SW Sidney and Spruce. The school bus involved in the wreck can be seen in the background. Courtesy Photo

Police are investigating a car crash in South Kitsap involving a school bus that left one man dead and another injured Sept. 29.

No children were on the bus at the time of the accident.

South Kitsap Fire and Rescue were called to the intersection of Sidney Road SW and SW Spruce Road after investigators said a silver Toyota Tacoma truck failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection.

The truck, which was westbound on Spruce, crossed into the path of a South Kitsap School District school bus, which was traveling northbound.

The crash was reported at 4:09 p.m. after the bus collided directly with the driver’s side of the vehicle.

A Kitsap County sheriff deputy was on scene in two minutes, followed by other officers and SKFR officials.

The driver of the truck, a 72-year-old Gig Harbor man, Steven J. Deluca, was killed. Cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries.

The driver of the school bus was treated and released at the scene after suffering minor injuries.

The crash is being investigated by the newly formed county Multi-Agency Traffic Investigation Unit, composed of officers and deputies from the sheriff’s office as well as all Kitsap municipal agencies.