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Semi Driver Arrested For OWI After Saturday Night Crash Involving Semi And School Bus In Kosciusko County

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WOWO):  On Saturday Night, shortly after 8 P.M. reports came into Kosciusko County officials regarding a crash involving a semi and a school bus.  The semi was reported to have New Jersey registration and was swerving into other lanes and driving at excessive speed.  Additionally, the semi was reportedly driving off the roadway as it was entering the Warsaw city limits westbound on U.S. 30.

As officers were on their way to the semi, they were advised that the suspect semi had struck a school bus at the intersection of Center St. and the bus was on its side.  Multiple first responders converged on the intersection as it was quickly determined to have multiple injuries to youth.  The semi driver continued west and came to a stop driving off the roadway into the ditch approximately an eighth of a mile from the intersection.

According to a press release, the bus traveling from Illinois was transporting 23 students and two adult coaches of the Saint Ignatius Prep’s hockey team to a local hotel after a game at Culver Academy when the collision occurred. Two critically injured students were taken to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital, and one was transported to Lutheran Kosciusko County.  Lutheran Hospital and Parkview Regional Medical Center went on to report that all students are currently listed in stable condition.

Other injured students were treated and released. According to police reports, 13 students were injured, with three more students being critical. It appeared that at least one of the juveniles had been ejected from the bus, and there were other injuries spanning from critical to minor. The student’s ages range from 14 to 17 years old.

The crash remains under investigation, but after smelling alcohol on the truck driver’s breath, Warsaw police initiated a DUI investigation. The truck driver, 58-year-old Victor Santos of Brooklyn, New York, failed the field sobriety test. When he refused to take a chemical test, Warsaw Police obtained a search warrant.  Pending formal charges, the Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office placed a 48-hour hold on the truck driver with preliminary charges of Operating While Intoxicated, Causing Serious Bodily Injury, a level 5 felony.

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