Semi driver charged with drunk driving in crash that injured teens on hockey team
WARSAW, Ind. (WISH) — Prosecutors say a man is facing more than two dozen charges of driving his semi intoxicated and crashing it into a school bus in northern Indiana.
Victor Santos, 55, was charged Tuesday with four counts of causing serious bodily injury while operating a vehicle while intoxicated and 22 counts of felony criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon. All charges are felonies.
His bond has been set at $75,000 and police say additional charges could be filed.
- Semi driver under arrest after school bus crash leaves 16 injured in Warsaw
- 2 teens still in hospital after school bus crash with accused drunk driver
Police received reports of a collision Saturday around 8 p.m. at the intersection of US 30 and Center Street. When police arrived, they found a 2006 Freightliner Tractor Trailer and a 2008 International School Bus. Investigators say the school bus was full of teenage hockey players from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. Santos has been accused of driving drunk and crashing the semi into the bus filled with kids. A total of 26 people were on the bus – 23 players, two coaches and a driver. Sixteen people on the bus were injured.
During the investigation, police say they smelled alcohol on his breath and he failed a sobriety test with a breath sample of .13%, which is above the legal limit of 0.08%. The U.S. Department of Transportation says the semi Santos was driving hasn’t been involved in any other crashes.
A witness said he believed the semi to be traveling more than 90 mph at times.
The President of St. Ignatius College Prep said their school community is not angry at Santos for what happened, “Whatever the brokenness in this gentleman’s life, whatever caused him to make these decisions and so forth we pray for him and hope that he will get the treatment that he needs to be able to move on in life,” said John Chandler.
Prosecutors say Santos is also a registered sex offender and was convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl in New York in December 1999.
