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The driver of a school activity bus that wrecked Wednesday on Interstate 77, injured dozens of students from a Cabarrus County school, has been cited by the N.C. Highway Patrol.
In addition, troopers say the driver told them she was swatting at a bee when she lost control of the vehicle, which then clipped a road sign and turned on its side.
The Highway Patrol said Thursday that Tonia Crowell, a teacher assistant at Cox Mill Elementary School near Concord, was cited late Wednesday for reckless driving.
The bus, one of three carrying students from Cox Mill Elementary to a planned overnight field trip at Camp Thunderbird on Lake Wylie, wrecked near the Brookshire Freeway. Authorities say 34 of the approximately 60 students and adults on the vehicle were injured. Most suffered minor injuries, but a few victims had broken bones.
One student, an 11-year-old boy, remains hospitalized today, according to a spokeswoman from Presbyterian Hospital. She said the youth underwent emergency neuro surgery and is in good condition.
The field trip was canceled, and the two buses not involved in the one-vehicle wreck returned to the school.
Ronnye Boone, a spokeswoman for the Cabarrus County Schools, said Crowell has been suspended with pay, pending a school system investigation. Parents told the Observer that Crowell often drove activity buses for the school on field trips.
Troopers reportedly visited her north Mecklenburg home Wednesday night to question her about the wreck. She told them she swatted at a bee shortly before the wreck.
Crowell could not be reached Thursday.
Student Kai Daniels said he had fallen asleep and thought he was dreaming when the bus lurched. "I was falling asleep, sort of. Then I landed on my friend," he said.
Fifth-grader Kyle Vinton said, "There was so much shaking ... and we like, crashed."
The injured included several staff members and parent chaperones.
Observer staff writers Christopher Kirkpatrick and Franco Ordonez contributed.
