Groveland, Massachusetts — A 27-year-old man driving a landscaping truck was apprehended on May 12, after nearly hitting children and parents waiting at a school bus stop.
On the morning of May 11, the truck illegally passed and sideswiped the stopped school bus, driving onto the nearby sidewalk where students were waiting to enter the bus. Video taken from inside the bus captured the incident, depicting an extremely dangerous situation that was diverted by quick-thinking parents, reports CBS Boston.
A father who was standing at the bus stop with his daughter luckily saw the truck and pulled his daughter and another child out of the truck’s path before it swerved back onto the road and continued.
“A father’s fast action is the only thing that got those kids out of harm’s way,” said Groveland Police Sgt. Steven Petrone. “We could be looking at something very different from what happened. Hopefully, this will serve as a cautionary tale.”
Some students who were already on the school bus also witnessed the scene.
“This happened out of nowhere,” remarked one student.
The surveillance video and witnesses helped lead police to the landscaping firm where the suspect worked. He has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving on a suspended license, and failure to stop for a school bus.
SLS Landscape responded with the following statement:
Some of you may have seen on the news, an unfortunate event took place on Tuesday and a company vehicle was involved in a hit and run incident with a school bus in Groveland. We were all very disturbed to hear about the accident and extremely relieved that nobody was hurt. The employee driving the truck was a new employee to SLS and is no longer employed with our company. Our sincerest apologies to the families affected by this incident.
Per their follow up, police commented that distracted driving may have been part of the issue.
