Thread: MN: IA bus driver arrested in Minnesota school tragedy

Did the driver of this van have a license? It seems court records could be damning.

Witnesses, including bus driver Dennis Devereaux, offered a different account, saying she "went airborne" over the railroad tracks and slammed into the side of the bus, which tipped over and slid into an oncoming pick-up truck.

Larry Moat told police he was driving behind the school bus and saw the van "moving at a fairly good speed" before it ran the stop sign and hit the bus near its rear wheels. James Hancock, the pick-up driver, said he also saw her run the stop sign and hit the bus.

Authorities released Devereaux's interview with state troopers, providing the bus driver's first public account of the crash. He said he noticed the maroon van "was going way too fast ... and the next thing I knew I had a trombone and a kid laying on top of me. ... We were just on our side and skidding and I was hanging on

When an investigator asked Devereaux about the van's speed, he replied: "I'm thinking 45 to 55 miles per hour. It was booking ... I don't think it slammed on its brakes at all."

One neighbor in Minneota, Michal Long, said there was often loud partying in the white trailer where the woman lived, but when Long threatened to call police, they obliged and quieted down.

http://www.startribune.com/local/158772 ... page=1&c=y

Thanks for the all updates here on this story Skip

I think there's a lot that has yet to come out, but when it does the entire picture is going to be a rather ugly one to people with views to our own (eg. there are still far too many unanswered questions)

Looking at the damage to the vehicles and based on info so far, it seems the illegal hit the railroad tracks and went airborne, that is how she was able to knock the bus over by hitting it higher up instead of at ground level.

Now all the illegal apologists will say Americans crash into school busses also. Yes, but they don't drive 55 mph and launch off a railroad track into the side of school busses!! I have never heard of an American doing anything like that, have you?

By the way, seat belts and higher seat backs would not have saved those kids, she slammed her van directly into them.

Now all the illegal apologists will say Americans crash into school busses also. Yes, but they don't drive 55 mph and launch off a railroad track into the side of school busses!! I have never heard of an American doing anything like that, have you?

Thanks Bowman, that's exactly what I was thinking as well

I keep hearing that Americans hit buses too. Or just because we're latino doesn't make us all bad.

THE POINT IS DUFUS WE HAVE ENOUGH OF OUR OWN CRIMINALS AND IRREPSONSIBLE PEOPLE WE DON'T NEED YOURS TOO. Our prisons are overflowing since 27% of those incarcerated are illegal aliens. Let's free up our prisons our courts, our hospitals. Get illegal aliens out.

NOW I NEED TO CALL PELOSI'S OFFICE ABOUT TRYING SCUTTLE THE SAVE ACT AND MY CONGRESSMAN. I SUGGEST YOU DO IT TOO. NEW NUMBERSUSA ALERT.

Originally Posted by PhredE

OK, everyone I just noticed something in Skip's most recent post above.

Look closely at the top profile 'edge' of the bus. Do you see the angular change in the rear 35%-40% of the bus. Now, I am not an automotive engineer but have worked on a fair number of regular passenger cars in my life, to know there was a LOT of force exerted on the rear end of that bus as a result of the impact. Looks like some frame damage to me - major frame damage.

Anybody catch word as to the speed the perp was driving at time of impact?
Additionally, as soon as the final official police report is available, it would be nice to have a look to dig deep into the details. So far, much of the real substance of the incident has been slow to make it's way to public view (sounds familiar, I know... )

You would be suprized at how cheaply buses are made, I was a school bus mechanic for a few years.
But to figure out how much force she put on the bus multiply speed times the weight of the car and you will come up with Ft. lbs force.
So if the car weights 3000lbs and she was going 40 MPH there 120,000ft. lbs of force.

You know she didn't have to knock the bus over to kill those kids, all she had to do was dent the sheet metal in about 1 or 2 feet right next to where the kids were sitting, that would be enough to kill them. I bet we will find out that is how they died.

Did any of you fill out the survey for the movie that Chosen's friends are putting together on illegal immigration?

U.S. immigration officials say today they've determined the identity of the 24-year-old woman who drove a van into a school bus, killing four children last week in southwestern Minnesota. The driver has been identified as Olga Marina Franco from Guatemala.

By CURT BROWN, Star Tribune

Last update: February 25, 2008 - 12:35 PM

U.S. immigration officials say today they've determined the identity of the 24-year-old woman who drove a van into a school bus, killing four children last week in southwestern Minnesota.

The driver has been identified as Olga Marina Franco and she's from Guatemala, according to Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago.

Franco has been charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide stemming from the Feb. 19 crash near Cottonwood. Witnesses say she blew through a stop sign, jumped over some railroad tracks and hit the rear of the bus, which tipped over and collided with a pickup truck.

The woman initially said her name was Alianiss Nunez Morales, but ICE officials said she was using a fake name and was here illegally.

Immigration agents first interviewed Franco on Feb. 21. During that interview, she said she was from Mexico. Investigators ran her fingerprints through databases and found no matches, hinting that she had no prior contact with immigration officials.

ICE has placed a detainer on Franco, so that if she is released from the Lyon County jail in Marshall for any reason, she will be turned over to federal authorities and placed in deportation proceedings.

Her next court appearance in April 21. Funerals for two of the victims were held this morning in Cottonwood.

http://www.startribune.com/local/15942767.html

I just sent this article to Rush, Hannity, Glenn Beck, and O'Reilly

Let's see what happens.