2 teens still in hospital after school bus crash with accused drunk driver
UPDATE: Victor Santos was charged Monday with four counts of causing serious bodily injury while operating a vehicle, a felony, and 22 counts of felony criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, the Warsaw Police Department said in a statement. Santos faces 26 counts in all, matching the 26 people injured in the crash, police say.
The bond for Santos has been set at $75,000.
The investigation into the crash was ongoing and police say additional charges could be filed.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WISH) — I-Team 8 uncovered new information about the teen victims hurt when an accused drunk driver crashed a semi into their school bus in Warsaw.
The bus full of teenagers are hockey players from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. Two of them on Monday were still in a hospital in Fort Wayne in stable condition.
The president of the school told I-Team 8 that 23 players and two coaches were in Warsaw for a tournament when their bus was hit by the semitruck.
The school said it’s been brought closer together through this tragedy. John Chandler, president of St. Ignatius College Prep, said “Ignatius is a community that is very close and when one member of the family is hurting the other members of the family step in. I think as we look back on the tragic events of last Saturday we’re also very grateful for the mercy of god that it was not worse.”
The driver of the semi, 58-year-old Victor Santos, is accused of driving drunk when hitting the bus full of kids. Police said they smelled alcohol on his breath and he failed a field sobriety test. Police are still waiting on the results of a blood test to determine if he had alcohol in his system.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the semi Santos was driving has not been involved in any other crashes.
Warsaw Police Department says Santos has an active commercial driver’s license.
I-Team 8 requested Santos’s driver’s license number to take a look at his driving history, but police have not yet provided that information to News 8.
