A Tucson man is facing criminal charges in connection with a crash with a school bus Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 10 that seriously injured four passengers — two students and two adults — including one who had their left hand amputated, a court filing shows.
The bus carried 35 high school students from the Kingman Unified School District as well as four staff members who were chaperoning the group for a conference in Tucson of the Future Business Leaders of America. The four seriously injured passengers were still receiving hospital care in Tucson, the school district said on its website Wednesday afternoon.
Multiple students were injured Tuesday afternoon when the school bus they were riding flipped on Interstate 10 northwest of Tucson. The crash happened on I-10 near the Tangerine Road exit, and the interstate remained closed in both directions Tuesday afternoon, the state Department of Public Safety said. Late Tuesday afternoon, Interstate 10 was still closed and drivers were forced to exit onto Tangerine.
Video by Grace Trejo, Arizona Daily Star.
The most serious injuries among the four passengers included the amputation, a deep laceration, and “severe soft tissue, bone, and ligament damage,” the court filing said. The ages of the passengers was redacted so it is unknown what injuries were suffered by the high schoolers or the adults.
The crash happened about 1:40 p.m. on eastbound I-10 near the Tangerine Road exit in Marana. A portion of the interstate remained closed until early Wednesday morning.
Nicolas Luis Rodriguez, 31, was arrested after the wreck on suspicion of three counts of aggravated assault, according to an initial complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court. He was booked into the Pima County jail on $100,000 bond, authorities said.
A school bus from Kingman Unified School District rests on its side Tuesday after a crash on Interstate 10 near the Tangerine Road exit. Three students and a staff member were seriously injured in the wreck, authorities said.
Rodriguez was driving a gray Volvo SUV when the state Department of Public Safety says he collided with the driver’s side of the school bus, causing it to swerve into the median, strike a barrier cable and roll onto its side.
Troopers administered field sobriety tests to both Rodriguez and the unidentified bus driver. The bus driver was cleared, the court document says.
Rodriguez told authorities that he “smoked marijuana two days before the incident,” according to the court filing.
A crash involving a school bus Tuesday afternoon caused major traffic backups on Interstate 10 for several hours. A portion of I-10 near Tangerine Road remained closed until early Wednesday morning.
Except for those seriously injured, most of the students were taken to the Tucson hospitals on buses sent to the crash scene by the Marana school district, troopers said.
“We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the Tucson and Marana hospitals, first aid responders, and their community for their exceptional support and assistance provided to our students and staff,” said an update on the Kingman district’s website. “Your help truly means the world to us.”
