The parents of high school hockey players injured in a crash with a semi truck earlier this month are suing the truck driver involved in the alleged drunk driving incident.
The accident happened on November 12th in Kosciusko County, Indiana. The lawsuit alleges that 58-year-old Victor Santos had a blood alcohol level at nearly twice the legal limit just after the crash.
Chicago Sun Times reports that the students on the school bus were injured after Santos ran a red light, crashed into the bus, and flipped it on its side. 23 students and their two coaches were all sent to the hospital. Three students were initially in critical condition. They were heading back to their hotel after a hockey tournament.
The parents filing the lawsuit say they were at a restaurant about 15 minutes away when they started receiving calls about the incident.
The phone calls started to come in and people were standing up screaming, ‘the bus rolled over the bus rolled over,’” parent Wendy Cook said. “We all just ran to the car…we tried to figure out if these boys are alive.”
One of the injured students is still at the hospital, and several are still unable to return to school.
The lawsuit names Santos and trucking companies N&V Trucking Express, B&W Cartage Company, Inc., B&W Cartage, Inc. and B&W Cartage International, Inc. as defendants. Representatives have declined to comment.
Santos has been charged with four counts of causing serious bodily harm while operating a vehicle and 22 counts of criminal recklessness for the incident. His bond was set for $75,000. Santos had been previously charged in Indiana for failure to comply with federal motor carrier safety regulations and failure to register under the unified carrier registration system.
“He never should have been on the road, much less hired to be behind the wheel of a semi-tractor trailer,” attorney Timothy Cavanagh said in a statement. “Santos and the trucking companies must be held responsible for the egregious conduct that has left these young men with lifelong physical and emotional injuries.”