By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Victor Santos

WARSAW — A semi driver who hit a school bus in Warsaw, injuring 20 students from Illinois, is taking his criminal case to jury trial.

Victor Santos, 59, Brooklyn, N.Y., is charged with four counts of causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated, all level 5 felonies; and 22 counts of criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, all level 6 felonies.

A jury trial is set to take place from Jan. 9 to 11, 2024, in Kosciusko Superior Court Three. A final pretrial conference is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 11.

At 8:06 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, multiple emergency departments responded to a two-vehicle accident on US 30, near East Center Street, Warsaw.

According to an accident report from the Warsaw Police Department, Santos was driving a white 2006 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer west on US 30, toward the East Center Street intersection. Santos told officers a school bus pulled out in front of him at the intersection.

A yellow 2008 International school bus was in the turn lane on US 30 to turn left onto East Center Street. The bus driver said he received a green turn arrow and was turning when the bus was hit by Santos’ semi tractor-trailer. The accident caused the school bus to flip over onto its driver’s side.

The bus was transporting a hockey team from St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, Ill. The group was in Warsaw to spend the night at a hotel following a weekend hockey tournament in Culver.

Santos, the bus driver, three additional students and the hockey team’s two coaches were uninjured.

Several witnesses said Santos was recklessly driving prior to the accident, with Santos straddling the yellow line in the middle of the roadway and traveling at speeds in excess of 90 mph.

Video footage from a local business showed the school bus preparing to make a left turn at a green arrow when Santos’ semi is shown approaching the intersection at a high rate of speed, hitting the bus.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, at the scene, officers could smell alcohol from Santos’ person and also noticed Santos’ eyes were red and glossy. Santos’ speech was slurred and he refused to submit to a chemical test for intoxication.

Officers were granted a search warrant to obtain a sample of blood from Santos for certified testing.

During the booking process into the Kosciusko County Jail, Santos provided a portable breath test sample, which indicated Santos had a .13% BrAC. Physical impairments with a .13% BrAC include gross impairment of motor control, blurred vision, major loss of balance, and onset of dysphoria.

Santos is currently incarcerated at KCJ.