JASPER COUNTY — A driver who slammed into the back end of a Kankakee Valley school bus on Thursday morning, March 23, was transported to an area hospital for injuries sustained in the crash.
The operator of the vehicle was later identified as Brandon C. Jones, 26, of Rensselaer. His condition is unknown at the time of an update from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office on March 27.
This case remains under investigation by the Indiana State Police and the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office is awaiting the results of a toxicology report to determine what criminal charges/traffic tickets may be filed.
According to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to a report of a passenger vehicle versus a school bus crash south of County Road 550 North on U.S. 231 at approximately 8:08 a.m. Thursday.
Preliminary investigation revealed that as the school bus was stopped with its warning equipment activated to pick up a student on the southbound lane of U.S. 231, the bus was struck in the rear by a vehicle traveling southbound on the highway.
According to the police report, there were a total of 18 students on the bus at the time of the crash with six complaining of pain. Area medics, with the assistance of Kankakee Valley School Corporation nurses, evaluated all 18 students and they were released to their parents or cleared to go to school.
The Indiana State Police is currently working the accident reconstruction with no further information available at this time. No further information has been released on the condition of the driver.
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following for their help with the incident: Indiana State Police, Rensselaer Fire Department, Keener Fire Department, Wheatfield Fire Department, Keener Township Ambulance Service, Wheatfield Ambulance Service, Southern Jasper County Ambulance Service, State Highway, REMC and Cheever’s Towing and Recovery.