Multiple DUI charges issued to man accused of hitting school bus, ambulance

MARTIN COUNTY – A school bus full of children and an ambulance carrying a patient each were struck Tuesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by a 43-year-old New York man, law enforcement officials said.

A total of 35 Martin County middle school students were aboard the school bus when it was disabled in the 12900 block of Southwest Kanner Highway just after 5:15 p.m., according to Martin County Sheriff’s Office records.

None of the children were injured, but sheriff's reports state the driver was taken to a hospital for shoulder pain.

When questioned at Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital, the bus driver told deputies the white SUV “drifted into her lane of travel and struck her bus.”

Images of the school bus released by the Sheriff's Office show what appears to be damage to its front left side, a flattened tire and an exposed rim, and other images show the SUV with heavy damage along its front left side.

Deputies spoke with the ambulance driver, who, in the report, said he was traveling west on Kanner Highway when the SUV drifted into his lane and struck the emergency vehicle, despite his attempts to swerve out of its way.

That happened before the SUV struck the bus, according to the sheriff's report.

The driver of the SUV, Joseph Saladino, of Northport, New York, on Long Island, was taken to Cleveland Clinic Martin South Hospital after the crash with the school bus. While at the hospital, he told deputies he struck the bus and lost control of his vehicle.

He told them the crash occurred on Southeast Mariner Sands in Stuart about 20 miles from the actual location of the crash on Kanner Highway, according to deputies.

Deputies asked him if he remembered striking another vehicle with his SUV, and he denied doing that.

Saladino refused a breathalyzer but agreed to sobriety exercises, results of which led deputies to believe his “normal faculties were impaired, and he (was) unable to operate a motor vehicle safely,” according to the sheriff's report.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of DUI with damage to property or a person; one count of leaving the scene of a crash with damage; one count of failing to stop after a crash involving injuries; and he was issued several traffic citations.

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Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow @coreyarwood, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: School bus, ambulance struck by SUV; driver faces several DUI charges