SCHOOL BUS CRASH
REPORTS 2007
School Bus Driver Injured on East
Commodore Blvd.
March 15, 2007
JACKSON - Two days after a motor
vehicle accident on Freehold Road left two Jackson Memorial High
School siblings dead, a March 9 accident on East Commodore Boulevard
sent a school bus driver, a school bus aide and four children to
area hospitals.
Jackson police Sgt. Russell Scialpi
provided details of the accident, which occurred at 8:32 a.m. He
said a dump truck traveling east on East Commodore Boulevard (east
of Cedar Swamp Road) was pulling a hydroseed trailer. The trailer
separated from the truck, crossed into the opposite lane of traffic
and struck a small school bus near where the driver's seat is
located.
The school bus was heading west on
East Commodore Boulevard.
"To the best of my knowledge, the
four children who were on their way to the Elms Elementary School
may have had some minor injuries, nothing serious, [a few] bumps and
bruises. The driver appeared to be seriously injured and there was
an aide on the bus who was [possibly] injured, but we don't know to
what extent," Scialpi said at the scene of the accident.
In the immediate aftermath of the
accident, Scialpi said he did not know why the trailer separated
from the dump truck.
Later in the day police confirmed
that the driver of the school bus, Susan Kaiser, 58, of Lakehurst,
had to be extricated from the vehicle by representatives of the
Jackson Mills Fire Company.
Kaiser was flown by helicopter to the
Jersey Shore University Medical Center trauma unit, Neptune, for
treatment.
On March 12, Kaiser's condition was
upgraded from fair to good; however, she was expected to undergo
additional surgery that day, according to John Shaeffer, a hospital
spokesman.
Jeanne Zapata, the school bus aide,
was transported to Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, for treatment
of what were described as minor injuries.
Renee Crotts, a spokeswoman at
CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, said four children
who were on the bus at the time of the accident were treated and
released from the hospital.
Police said Albino Rufino, 30, of
Freehold, was operating the 2004 Chevrolet dump truck that was
pulling a hydroseed trailer. The truck and the trailer were
registered to Down To Earth Landscaping Inc.
Jackson Superintendent of Schools
Thomas Gialanella said, "It has [been] a difficult week for
students, staff and for the whole community. It's been a difficult
week having one accident, never mind two, and one resulting in two
deaths."
Speaking about the March 9 bus
accident, Gialanella said, "We still have an employee [Kaiser] who
is going to be operated on. Thank God the students and the bus aide
are safe, but we still have someone with serious injuries and [she]
will have to go through a long recovery."
Responding at the scene of the
accident were MONOC paramedics, Jackson Fire Districts No. 3 and No.
4, the Jackson Office of Emergency Manage-ment under the direction
of Barry Olejarz and the Bureau of Fire Preven-tion Districts No. 2
and No. 4.
East Commodore Boulevard was closed
for four-and-a-half hours while the accident scene was investigated
and cleaned up.
An investigation is being conducted
by Jackson police officers Trevor Crowley, Christopher Kelly and
Joseph Candido, along with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office and
the New Jersey State Police Commercial Vehicle Unit.
Jackson police are asking anyone who
witnessed the accident or who may have any information pertaining to
the accident to call the police department at (732) 928-1111.
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer
back to
Crash Reports 2007
top
|
