Total of 16 injured in Warsaw bus crash, incident still under investigation

WARSAW, Ind. -- Patrol officers were notified around 8:06 p.m. on Saturday of reports that a tractor trailer was driving at excessive speeds, drifting into other lanes, and even driving off the roadway while entering Warsaw city limits westbound on U.S. 30, according to the Warsaw Police Department.

As Warsaw police were on route to intercept the vehicle, they received reports that the suspected semi had struck a school bus on the right rear side at the intersection of Center Street, flipping the bus on its side.

Based on eyewitness reports and interviews, police have determined that the semi disregarded the traffic light by several seconds as the bus was making a left turn on a green arrow.

Upon arriving, police discovered that the bus contained 26 people in total: 23 juvenile students between the ages of 14 and 17, two adult coaches and a bus driver, who were all in town to spend the night for a weekend hockey tournament taking place in Culver.

The hockey team is reportedly from St. Ignatius College Prep, a school based out of Chicago, Illinois.

Initial investigations showed that at least one of the juveniles was ejected from the bus at the time of the crash.

Three juveniles were deemed to be in critical condition and were quickly transported by ambulance to Fort Wayne Lutheran Hospital. The remaining 13 injured youth were taken to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital.

As of Sunday morning, Lutheran Hospital and Parkview Regional Medical Center are reporting that all students are currently in stable condition. 

All family members of those involved have been notified, and the bus driver consented to a blood draw due to the seriousness of the collision.

The semi driver, identified as 58-year-old Victor Santos from Brooklyn, New York, did not stop at the scene of the crash, and drove off of the roadway into a ditch approximately and eighth of a mile from the incident, according to police.

Officials say that upon contacting Santos, they began an OWI investigation due to the strong smell of alcohol and Santos' slurred speech.

Santos failed the standardized field sobriety tests, so a search warrant was applied to have blood drawn, which will be submitted for official testing, according to officials.

Santos is currently being held on a 48-hour hold placed by the Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for formal charges pertaining to Operating While Intoxicated, and Causing Serious Bodily injury which is a level five felony.  

The investigation is still ongoing and additional charges may be added based on the outcome.