Man arrested after car rear-ends school bus with 5 kids on board in Wellington

WELLINGTON — A 48-year-old Central Florida man has been arrested after a car he was in rear-ended a school bus carrying five students Thursday afternoon.

The crash occurred after David Alton Daniels Jr. attempted to withdraw money from an account at a nearby bank that did not belong to him and fled with three others in a gold BMW, according to court records.

Daniels was arrested at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday and charged with criminal use of personal identification, grand theft, six counts of forgery of a credit card and four counts of unauthorized possession of a driver's license.

None of the five students who were traveling from Binks Forest Elementary School was injured or required medical attention, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.

The students' parents were called to the scene to pick them up, fire rescue officials said in a tweet. One of the children walked home from the crash site, according to the sheriff's office.

In Florida, grand theft, criminal use of personal identification and unauthorized possession of a driver's license are felony charges of varying degrees. If convicted, the man faces a prison sentence of five to 30 years and fines between $5,000 and $10,000.

What happened leading up to the school bus crash?

About 2 p.m., Daniels went into the Synovus Bank branch on Greenview Shores Boulevard in Wellington and tried to withdraw $3,800 from an account that did not belong to him, deputies say.

The bank teller noticed his signature did not match the one on file, and Daniels provided a passport ID card and a credit card that did not belong to him, according to PBSO. The account he was attempting to take money out of had active fraud alerts and belonged to a man who lives in Parkland, the report said.

When bank employees called the police to report the suspicious withdrawal attempt, Daniels ran out of the bank building, the PBSO report says. He got into the gold BMW, which took off quickly out of the bank parking lot.

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The sheriff's office report shows an investigator called to the scene "attempted to catch up to" the BMW, but the report does not say whether the car's siren and lights were engaged. The sheriff's office did not responded to requests for comment.

The crash happened at about 2:40 p.m. when the BMW hit the school bus near the intersection of Cedar Bluff Place and Aero Club Drive in western Wellington, the sheriff's office report says. The speed limit in that area is 40 mph.

The sheriff's office has not released how fast the BMV was traveling prior to the crash except to say it was traveling at a "high rate of speed." Photos from the scene show the bus pushed off the road and into landscaping.

Two men in the car took off running after the crash. A third man was taken to HCA Florida Palms West hospital. He was interviewed there by deputies but had not been arrested as of Friday.

Daniels was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center for treatment of his injuries and he was arrested there several hours later.

The sheriff's office report says deputies and dogs searched the surrounding area for the other two men who were in the car.

Binks Forest Elementary, just 2 miles north of the crash scene, dismisses students at 2:05 p.m. The school's principal went to the scene of the crash.

Wellington Landings Middle School, which dismisses students at 4:05 p.m., went into a code yellow lockdown that allowed limited movement on campus as a precaution because of the police activity nearby, according to the Palm Beach County School District.

Second crash involving school bus in 2 days as students go back to school

The crash was the second in as many days involving a school bus.

Just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, a Chevrolet Malibu heading west on Sixth Avenue South in Lake Worth Beach crashed into the back of a school bus that was stopped at the Tri-Rail crossing.

The school bus driver did not realize the crash had occurred and dragged the car across the tracks before stopping, according to PBSO.

Two teenagers between the ages of 14 and 16 were in the car. Both were seriously injured and taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach by ambulance.

One student aboard the bus and the driver were not injured in the crash, although the glass at the back of the bus was shattered. The student's parent picked them up from the scene, according to the school district. The bus was on its way to Roosevelt Middle School in West Palm Beach.

Media reports also showed a bus that was pulled over for speeding in a school zone Wednesday afternoon near Citrus Cove Elementary in Boynton Beach. The bus had just dropped off students nearby and only the driver was on board, WPTV reported.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: School bus rear-ended in Wellington with 5 students on board