Party bus owner convicted in Santa Cruz woman’s death

A Santa Clara County jury reached a verdict in the fatal party bus accident case from 2012 that killed a 25-year-old Santa Cruz woman.

A jury convicted the owner of a Santa Cruz party bus company of involuntary manslaughter for failing to maintain the vehicle. The jury said a faulty door is what caused Natasha Noland to fall out of the bus onto Highway 17.

Prosecutors say Jon Reno St. James knew about the broken door, as it had popped opened on previous trips, and failed to have it repaired.

On July 27, 2012, Noland was on the party bus with more than a dozen passengers
headed back to Santa Cruz after a Brad Paisley concert in Mountain View.
During the ride, Noland and another woman got into a fight and the two eventually fell out of the bus on Highway 17 near Los Gatos.

“What makes this case so sad is that this was an easy fix that could have been done in about half an hour…If the defendant had shown the slightest sense of responsibility this tragedy could have been avoided,” said prosecutor Matthew Braker.

The other woman survived but Noland fell under the bus and died as a result of her injuries.

St. James faces a maximum of four years in prison and will be sentenced on May 29.