Pittsburgh, Pa. – Pittsburgh Police Officer testifies new surveillance video shows driver’s “deliberate” motions caused the bus to sway before crashing in November.

On Wednesday, Officer Matt Geffel testified about surveillance video from Port Authority bus 5601, which appears to show Juliann Maier, 46, causing Port Authority bus 1501 to sway back and forth within feet of bus 5601 before veering to the right and crashing.

Office Geffel pointed to the driver of bus 5601, Thomas Frauens, 56, saying the “buggy whip” motion he made before Maier passed Frauens’ bus leads him to believe that the two were racing.

When asked by the defense if the video shows Maier look over at Frauens, Officer Geffel was not able to confirm that Maier made eye contact with Frauens or noticed his hand motions.

After viewing the video surveillance footage from the port earlier in the day of the crash, Officer Geffel concluded he did not believe that there were mechanical issues with Maier’s bus on the day of the crash.

“It did not occur to me that there was something wrong with the sway bar,” Officer Geffel said. “I believe the bus was stable the whole time and the crash was caused by deliberate action of the driver.

“Bus 5601, the way [Frauens] drove his bus and the way he motioned to Ms. Maier, she reacted to that. She turns into the bus, causing her bus to sway back and forth and then veer to the right.”

Pittsburgh police vehicle inspector Officer Ryan Carr testified in December that he did not find any mechanical problems with bus 1501 following the November crash.

During cross-examination by assistant district attorney Brian Catanzarite, Officer Geffel testified that he did not receive additional information from Officer Carr about the mechanical condition of the bus.

Officer Geffel also testified that based on the surveillance footage from inside Frauens’ bus, he believes the buses collided on the third time that Maier’s bus swayed toward bus 5601 before veering to the right and out of view.

“There was damage on both buses that proves there was some form of contact between the buses,” Officer Geffel said. “At that speed any two objects hitting together is not good.”

The defense mentioned a witness who testified earlier that the buses did not collide before the crash. There is also no video footage that shows the buses making contact with one another.

The trial is set to continue on Monday morning in Judge Jeffery Manning’s court room at the Allegheny County Courthouse.