The driver of the cement truck accused of plowing into a school bus carrying 40 preschoolers returning from a field trip in Texas, killing two, has admitted to taking cocaine and marijuana before getting behind the wheel.
Newly released dashcam footage of the tragedy also appears to have caught Jerry Hernandez lying. The footage did not show any vehicles breaking down in front of the cement truck that caused him to swerve into oncoming traffic and collide with the bus.
This horrifying footage, taken from inside a Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus, shows a cement truck suddenly swerving across double yellow lines on a rural highway outside Austin.
The truck collided with enough force to overturn the bus, causing it to roll onto the pavement and sending a large amount of documents across the road.
The roof of the bus can be seen collapsing to the ground as witnesses rush to rescue the young victim.
The entire crash occurred within 10 seconds.
The March 22 crash killed 5-year-old Ulises Rodríguez Montoya, who was riding the bus, and Ryan Wallace, 33, a doctoral student. The University of Texas at Austin student was driving another vehicle that collided with the cement truck.
Hernandez, 42, was arrested Friday and charged with criminally negligent homicide. Deon Cockrell of the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
While hospitalized, he told officers he had smoked marijuana the night before the accident, according to court documents. Retrieved by KVUE.
He also admitted to taking cocaine at 1am, after only three hours of sleep.
Hernandez claimed he was forced to swerve to avoid the vehicle that suddenly broke down in front of him, but dashcam footage showed only a clear path in front of the lane of cement trucks. .
The school bus was filled with 40 preschoolers from Buda’s Tom Green Elementary School and 11 adults returning from a field trip to the zoo.
Four people were airlifted from the crash scene in critical condition, and a further six people were taken to hospital by ambulance with serious injuries.
The school district said the bus did not have seat belts.
If convicted, Hernandez could be sentenced to two years in prison and fined up to $10,000.
with post wire
