Empty MTA bus rolls backward for several blocks, slams into Bushwick church; 1 man hurt, cars damaged

BUSHWICK, Brooklyn –– A runaway MTA bus that travelled at least three blocks and crashed into a church left a man hospitalized and several cars damaged in its path overnight in Brooklyn, the MTA said Wednesday.

The trail of destruction left by the MTA bus will cost thousands of dollars in repairs and now bills for the victim's family.

It happened at about 12:45 a.m. when an MTA driver operating an empty Q58 bus parked on Myrtle Avenue and failed to secure the parking break, according to the MTA. Suddenly, it began to roll faster down Palmetto Street for over three blocks, striking at least six vehicles and a 27-year-old man changing a headlight in his driveway.

Witnesses say the impact threw him against a fence and onto a sidewalk.

In the meantime, the bus kept going with the driver running after it before the crash course ended at a church on Knickerbocker Avenue.

The only person hit was Nicholas Rivera, 27, whose injuries don't appear to be serious. His mother and brother spoke to PIX11 exclusively, saying Rivera was changing a headlight their car so he could drive his mother to the airport in the morning.

Eric Rivera said fortunately his brother was able to see the bus rolling toward him.

"He was doing a favor changing the lights for her [mother]," Rivera said. "We look up and see the bus flying my brother saw it at last-minute and at least he's OK."

"Thank God he's fine," the victim's mother Mayra Rosario said. "We've had a tough time with buses. If this was yesterday, we have a school here and kids with their phones. It would've been a lot worse."

Police say the driver is not in custody and the MTA is still looking into how it all happened.