Suspected drunk driver arrested after tractor-trailer crashed into bus carrying Chicago high school hockey team
Police have arrested a man suspected of being a drunk driver after a tractor-trailer ran a red light Saturday in northern Indiana and crashed into a school bus carrying a high school hockey team out of the state, flipping it on its side and injuring more than a dozen people on board, authorities said.
Victor Santos, 58, of Brooklyn, New York, crashed the New Jersey-registered tractor-trailer into the right rear side of the school bus just after 8 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of US 30 and Center Street, where the bus was turning. , officials said.
The bus overturned on its side, ejecting at least one student, while the tractor-trailer rammed into a ditch near the freeway an eighth of a mile from the crash site, police said .
The bus was carrying a high school hockey team from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, who were visiting for a tournament in the town of Culver, about 32 miles west of Warsaw, and returning to their hotel after dinner , police said.
Sixteen of the 26 people on board – 23 students, two coaches and the bus driver – were injured, authorities said. Three students were initially classified as having serious injuries and sent to hospitals, police said.
All 16 victims were stable as of Sunday afternoon, said Brad Kellar, a Warsaw police spokesman.
The school published a message to his Instagram page on Sunday thanking supporters for their “thoughts and prayers.”
“Our community supports our JV hockey team who were involved in an accident after a travel contest last night,” the post read.
The NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks also released a statement supporting the team.
“We send our thoughts and prayers to the Saint Ignatius College Prep hockey team, their coaches and their families after the team was involved in a serious bus accident last night. Please join us in keeping them in your thoughts,” the team said.
Police said witnesses and security video revealed Santos “ignored a red light for several seconds before hitting the bus during its turn.”
The crash happened just two minutes after police received reports that the driver was speeding, pulling into other lanes of traffic and veering off the roadway, officials said.
Police said in a press release that “officers had reason to suspect alcohol was a factor in this collision” after speaking to Santos, who was slurring his words and smelling of alcohol.
Santos failed field sobriety tests and refused to consent to a chemical test, police said. Authorities obtained a search warrant authorizing hospital staff members to draw blood for official testing.
Santos was being held for 48 hours by the Kosciusko County District Attorney’s Office on formal felony charges related to impaired driving and grievous bodily harm, police said.
The Illinois bus driver consented to a blood test, police said.
Warsaw police said in a press release that “additional charges may be added or strengthened depending on the outcome.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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