Bus driver pinned for hours after colliding with truck -

Emergency officials worked for several hours Thursday night to free a driver of an otherwise unoccupied school bus that struck the rear of a semi-truck along Intestate 65 two miles north of the Fair Oaks exit in Jasper County, Indiana State Police said.

The bus driver was transported to a Chicago hospital with potential life-threatening injuries, while the truck driver was taken to jail on a felony count of fleeing the scene of a crash involving catastrophic injuries, police said.

Emergency officials worked for several hours Thursday night to free a driver of an otherwise unoccupied school bus that struck the rear of a s…

Police responding around 11:15 p.m. Thursday to a report of the crash said they arrived to find the school bus in the ditch.

“The driver of the bus was pinned in the vehicle, but he was alert,” according to police.

Police determined the bus had rear-ended the truck and said while the truck driver initially pulled over as others stopped to help, the truck driver suddenly drove away.

“While troopers and first responders attempted to extricate the driver of the bus, another trooper was able to locate the semi that left the scene, parked in the rear of the Love’s Truck Stop located on S.R. 10 in Jasper County,” police said. “The trailer of the semi had substantial damage and it was quite apparent that the vehicle had been involved in a significant crash very recently.”

Valpo man pointed handgun at fellow driver on Ind. 49, faked 3 shots, charges say

Police said they recovered a black handgun from the center console of the accused’s vehicle, which contained a magazine with an unknown number of rounds.

The truck driver, identified as Aregay Tesfay Gebremariam, 57, from Atlanta, gave statements inconsistent with the crash was taken taken to the Jasper County Jail.

“The driver of the bus, who was the only occupant, was trapped inside of the bus for several hours while the fire department worked to extricate him from the vehicle,” police said. “Once removed, the driver was transported to Franciscan Health Hospital in Rensselaer and later taken to a hospital in Chicago for treatment of potential life-threatening injuries.”

Police say they are investigating, but neither alcohol nor drugs are suspected to be factors in the crash.