Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, February 21, 2004
Prosecutors: Drugs, alcohol, speed factors in collision with school bus
The semi-trailer that crashed into the back of a stopped school bus in Onalaska on Thursday morning was going faster than
40 mph, a truck driver who saw the crash told police.
Prosecutors also said Friday in La Crosse County Circuit Court that the semi-trailer's driver, Michael D. Lee, 37, of Cambridge, Minn., had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12 percent and likely had drugs in his system at the time.
Lee was charged at the hearing with two counts of injury by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle and one count of reckless driving causing great bodily harm. He is in jail, with bail set at $15,000 cash.
The bus was at a stoplight at the end of a Hwy. 53 off ramp when struck. The 24 students on the bus were headed for Onalaska Luther High School.
According to a criminal complaint, while still in the cab of the truck after jarring the bus onto Main Street, Lee told an officer
he followed the bus down the ramp when the bus driver suddenly slammed on the brakes as the light changed to yellow. Lee said he tried to swerve around the bus but could not avoid the collision, the complaint said.
Prosecutors contend Lee, an over-the-road truck driver, had several prescription drugs in the cab of his truck. The drugs included Zoloft, Doxepin Hydrochloride, Oxycodone and Oxycontin.
During a court hearing Friday, Assistant District Attorney Todd Bjerke said Lee's log book was incomplete and said he should have been in Kentucky at the time of the accident.
Bjerke said all 24 students on the bus were injured and one student was "very seriously" injured.
According to the complaint, a 15-year-old boy was pinned between two seats in the rear of the bus and suffered multiple fractures of his leg.
The student came out of surgery at Franciscan Skemp about 5 p.m. Thursday and was in stable condition Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Sixteen students complained of a possible injury, three complained of injuries considered to be incapacitating and one had a non-incapacitating injury, Bjerke said.
Although Lee's blood alcohol concentration, which was taken six hours after the accident, was 0.03, prosecutors estimate it was 0.12 at the time of the crash. That is three times the state's legal limit for operation of a commercial vehicle.
La Crosse County Circuit Judge Dale Pasell said a high cash bond was warranted because of the seriousness of the offense and because Lee is from out of state.
Pasell continued Lee's case until 1:30 p.m. Tuesday so Lee can hire an attorney.
Dan Springer can be reached at (608) 791-8269 or dspringer@lacrossetribune.com.
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