Authorities announced that cops have arrested a 58-year-old man suspected of driving drunk after his tractor trailer ran a red light in northern Indiana on Saturday, November 12. He crashed into a school bus carrying an out-of-state high school hockey team. The tractor trailer knocked the bus onto its side, injuring 16 people on board.
Officials said that Victor Santos of Brooklyn, New York, crashed the tractor trailer into the right rear side of the school bus at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Center Street, where the bus was making a turn, just after 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The collision caused the bus to flip onto its side, ejecting at least one high school student, according to NBC News. Police said that the New Jersey-registered tractor trailer careened into a ditch off the freeway which is about an eighth of a mile from the crash site after the collision.
16 people injured in bus crash
The bus that crashed was carrying a high school hockey team from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. The team from Illinois was visiting for a hockey tournament in the town of Culver, about 32 miles west of Warsaw. They were heading back to their hotel from dinner when the crash occurred, police said.
Authorities said that 16 of the 26 people on board the bus — two coaches, the bus driver, and 23 students — got injured. According to police, three students were initially classified as having critical injuries and were sent to hospitals.
Warsaw police spokesman Brad Kellar said that all 16 victims were stable on Sunday afternoon. The school posted a message on Sunday on its Instagram page, thanking well-wishers for their thoughts and prayers for the victims, according to CNN.
The post read that their community stands in support of their JV hockey team that was involved in an accident after a travel contest last night.
National Hockey League side Chicago Blackhawks also released a statement supporting the team, saying that they send their thoughts and prayers to the Saint Ignatius College Prep's hockey team, their coaches and their families after they were involved in a serious bus accident last night.
Santos failed sobriety tests following crash
Cops said that security video and witnesses revealed that Santos disregarded a red light by several seconds before he struck the bus during its turn. The heavy crash occurred just a couple of minutes after police received reports that the driver was speeding. Officials said he was swerving into other lanes of traffic and was driving off the roadway.
Police issued a news release, saying that their officers had reason to suspect that alcohol was a factor in this collision. Cops said that when they spoke to Santos, he was slurring his words and smelled like alcohol, WANE reported.
Police said that Santos failed field sobriety tests and he refused to consent to a chemical test. Authorities obtained a search warrant, allowing hospital staff members to take a blood draw from Santos for official testing.
