A man boarded a Muni bus shortly before 8:30 a.m., lumbered to the back row and slumped down in his seat.
The motor wheezed and the 9 San Bruno coasted down Market Street, through SoMa and Potrero Hill, down a merchant corridor in the Portola District and into Visitacion Valley. As it rolled along, the man — identified in court documents as 32-year-old Quinton Allen — appeared to wilt. Surveillance video showed his head drooping into his lap.
Ultimately, the bus operator, Harry Tam, would loop his route twice on that morning of Sept. 1, 2023, as Allen died of an overdose of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the back seat. His children are now suing Tam and the city for wrongful death and negligence, arguing that Allen’s death might have been prevented had Tam followed the Municipal Transportation Agency’s protocol for handling unresponsive passengers. In pretrial testimony, Tam said he has never been disciplined by the agency and continues to drive buses…