JASPER COUNTY, Ind. (CBS) – A driver of a semi-truck is in custody after leaving the scene of a crash involving a school bus on Interstate 65 Thursday night.
Indiana State police said troopers responded to the crash on the northbound lanes at the 222 mile-marker just two miles north of the Fair Oaks exit. A school bus was found in the right ditch with the driver pinned inside, but he was alert.
Indiana State Police
Indiana State Police
Preliminary investigation revealed the bus driver rear-ended a semi in the right lane. The semi initially pulled over, and Good Samaritans stopped to render aid to both drivers.
The semi driver suddenly drove away but was later found in the rear of the Love’s Truck Stop on S.R. 10 in Jasper County, ISP said.
The trailer of the semi had damage showing it had been involved in a recent crash. The driver was also located and gave statements inconsistent with what had happened on the interstate.
The driver of the semi, 57-year-old Aregay Tesfay Gebremariam from Atlanta, Georgia, was placed into custody and taken to the Jasper County Jail.
He is preliminarily charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving catastrophic bodily injury.
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.
Once removed, the driver was taken to Franciscan Health Hospital in Rensselaer and later transported to a hospital in Chicago with potentially life-threatening injuries. No other passengers were on the bus at the time of the crash.
State police say alcohol and drugs are not suspected to be factors in the crash.
Inspections of the bus, the semi, and the trailer will be completed by the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.
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