Cedar Rapids School Bus Involved In Bad Accident

It's the words you never want to hear come across the news or a police scanner: "Major accident involving school bus".  It's something we take real caution in announcing over the air for concerns of deep panic. But that was just the case Tuesday afternoon, as we closed out the work day.

According to the Linn County Sheriff's Office, at about 3:14 p.m., County Deputies attempted to stop a vehicle on Hwy 13, just south of Mt. Vernon Rd, as the driver was identified as someone who was barred from driving in Iowa. The driver refused to stop however, and a pursuit ensued south on Hwy 13, then west on Hwy 30, with speeds getting upward of 100 miles per hour.  The vehicle took the C Street SW exit, heading into Cedar Rapids where deputies temporarily lost sight due to the reckless driving.

The vehicle continued at high speeds, turning onto 1st SW, where it collided nearly head-on with a pick-up, then the bus as it crossed 1st Ave.  The driver attempted to flee on foot, but was apprehended a short distance away. Roads were closed for quite some time to clean up the debris, causing major traffic delays for the afternoon commute. As of 8 p.m., roads were still closed, with one of the vehicles being towed away.

There were four children and two faculty aboard that bus, but they were luckily uninjured.  A 29-year-old woman and her young child were in the pick-up, and are being checked over for what are believed to be non-life threatening injuries.  The suspect also was checked over for non-life threatening injuries.

[via Linn County Sheriff's Office]