Suspected drunk driver strikes school bus in Warsaw, injuring more than a dozen students
WARSAW — More than a dozen Chicago area high school hockey players were injured after an alleged intoxicated truck driver struck the bus they were riding in Saturday, police say.
In total, 16 students were injured — three of them critically — in the collision. However, Warsaw police said Monday afternoon that all students were either in stable condition or released from the hospital. The junior varsity team is from Chicago's St. Ignatius College Prep , and were in the area for a weekend tournament hosted in Culver, Ind. Officials say there were 26 people on the bus between players, coaches and the bus driver.
The crash occurred a little after 8 p.m. on Saturday as the truck struck the St. Ignatius bus at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Center Street on the western edge of Warsaw, officials said. The truck, police say, was going southwest on US 30, and other drivers had called into to 911 to alert law enforcement that it appeared to be swerving in between lanes. Seconds before the crash, the truck failed to stop at a red light, Warsaw police said.
The collision caused the school bus to turn over on its side and police say one student was thrown from the bus due to the crash. The semitrailer eventually came to a stop in a ditch a ways past the intersection. Two of the students who were critically injured were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Fort Wayne. Other team members were taken to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital. Most of the students are 15 years old, police said.
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Police quickly began to treat the crash as an OWI investigation based on the 911 calls prior to the collision and the alleged odor of alcohol officers detected on the truck driver. The man failed sobriety tests, but did not consent to a blood draw, police said. Investigators eventually got a warrant to perform a blood draw, the results of which are still pending. Police also say the collision was captured on surveillance video, which confirmed witness accounts that the truck ran a red light.
The driver has been identified and arrested, though The Tribune is not naming him as he has not been formally charged with a crime as of Monday afternoon. Warsaw police say he is a 58-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., resident whose truck is registered in New Jersey.
"Our community stands in support of our junior varsity hockey team that was involved in an accident after a travel contest [on Saturday]. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers for each of our student-athlete, coaches, families and friends," a statement posted to the St. Ignatius athletic department's social media accounts said.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Chicago St. Ignatius high schoolers injured in drunk driving crash in Warsaw
