JASPER COUNTY, Indiana — A truck driver is in custody following a crash on Interstate 65 in Indiana.
At about 11:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7, the Lowell Regional Dispatch Center received 911 calls reporting a crash involving a school bus and a semi on I-65 northbound at mile marker 222, 2 miles north of the Fair Oaks exit.
Troopers responded to the scene and located a school bus in the right ditch. The bus was unoccupied except for the driver, who was pinned in the vehicle but alert. Preliminary investigation shows that the driver of the bus rear ended a semi in the right lane of travel; the impact propelled the bus off the road.
Initially, reports say, the driver of the semi pulled over, and passersby stopped to help both drivers. However, witnesses say, the semi driver suddenly drove away from the scene.
While troopers and first responders attempted to extricate the driver of the bus, another trooper located the semi that left the scene, parked in the rear of the Love’s Travel Stop on State Road 10 in Jasper County. The trailer of the semi had substantial damage, and troopers noted it was apparent the vehicle had been involved in a significant crash very recently.
The driver of the semi, 57-year-old Aregay Tesfay Gebremariam of Atlanta, was also located and gave statements inconsistent with what had happened on the interstate. Gebremariam was taken into custody and transported to the Jasper County Jail. He is preliminarily charged with Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Catastrophic Bodily Injury, a Level 4 felony.
The driver of the bus was trapped inside of the bus for several hours while the fire department worked to extricate him from the vehicle. Once removed, the driver was transported to Franciscan Health Hospital in Rensselaer, Indiana, and later taken to a hospital in Chicago for treatment of potential life-threatening injuries.
The bus, owned by Norton Transport Inc. of Rock Spring, Georgia, was new and was being driven to another location. It was not transporting passengers at the time of the crash, according to the Indiana State Police. The semi is owned by Weini Transportation LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Inspections of the bus, the semi and the trailer will be completed by the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division. Alcohol/drugs are not suspected to be factors in this crash. Charges mentioned are preliminary; final charges will be determined by the Jasper County Prosecutor.
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