WARSAW, Ind.--The families of hockey players who were hurt in a bus crash Nov. 12, in Warsaw, Indiana, are suing the truck driver and the companies that employed him. Authorities say Victor Santos blew through a red light and hit a school bus carrying the team, while he was driving drunk and speeding.
“What responsible trucking company would allow this man to drive?” asked attorney Tim Cavanaugh of the Cavanaugh Group, during a Tuesday press conference in Chicago. “We’re going to find answers to that.”
The lawsuit is against Victor Santos, a registered sex offender and felon, with a history of safety violations, who witnesses say barely tried braking when his truck sped through the intersection and hit the rear of the bus as it was turning, spinning it, and injuring almost everyone inside. Some of them have broken bones to deal with, skull fractures and other injuries. One person is still in the hospital.
The suit is also against two companies that employed Santon: N&V Trucking Express and B&W Cartage Company.
“He said, Dad, L.G. was covered in blood, screaming I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die,” recalled parent Karl D Cunha. “Weeks from now when he has to revisit that memory, what do you say?”
His son was part of the St. Ignatius College Prep School Jr. Varsity hockey team from Chicago, in Indiana for a tournament. When the truck hit the bus, it landed on its side.
“I would never want to see that man out of jail, nor would I ever want to see him behind the wheel of any vehicle ever again,” said parent Eileen Murphy.
The lawsuit accuses Santos and the trucking companies of negligence, asking for punitive damages. Santos faces 26 felony counts, including 22 counts of criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon and four counts of causing serious bodily injury while operating a motor vehicle.
