Alameda County Deputy Critically Injured In Bus Accident At Jail

DUBLIN (CBS SF) -- A veteran Alameda County sheriff's deputy remains in critical condition after being struck by an inmate bus that was being driven by another deputy at the transportation division at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin early Wednesday morning, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The incident happened at about 6 a.m. Wednesday at the transportation yard behind the jail near Broder Boulevard, Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

The injured deputy is 60-year-old Michael Foley, who's been with the sheriff's department for 8 years and previously was an officer with the Concord Police Department for 30 years, Kelly said.

It was dark at the time of the accident and apparently the deputy who was driving the bus didn't see Foley, who's assigned to the transportation unit, and Foley didn't see the bus, which was traveling at about 15 mph, Kelly said.

Foley is now "fighting for his life," he said.

The California Highway Patrol's major accident investigation team will reconstruct the incident to find out exactly what happened, Kelly said.

The bus holds about 50 inmates but no inmates were on the bus at the time and the only people on the bus were the deputy who was the driver and another deputy who was a passenger, according to Kelly.

The bus was in the process of going to the jail's kitchen area to get prepared lunches for inmates who were going to be transported to a courthouse in Oakland for court appearances later in the morning, Kelly said.

Inmates were going to get on the bus after the food was loaded, he said.

The deputy who struck Foley is "devastated" by what happened and "feels tremendous pain," Kelly said.

He described Foley as "a senior officer who is one of our hardest-working people and a mentor to many of our people."

Kelly said, "We are really hurting right now."

Foley is being treated at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where a large group of other deputies have gathered to support the deputy and his family, according to Kelly.

Among the family members supporting Foley is his son, who attends college in Southern California but flew to the Bay Area to be with Foley, Kelly said.

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