Wrong-way driver hits school bus, pickup in South Bexar County

BCSO: No injuries in either crash

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A driver is accused of going on a wild and dangerous ride in South Bexar County on Thursday, leaving two other vehicles with damage.

One of them was a Somerset Independent School District school bus. No one in either crash was hurt, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokesman James Keith said deputies first received a report about the crash involving the school bus around 6:30 a.m. and found that it had been sideswiped by a pickup. The bus was carrying two elementary school students at the time.

Soon after arriving at the scene, deputies located the pickup driver and attempted to stop him.

"The deputy was able to pull the man over. Whenever he attempted to get the man out of the vehicle, the man decided to speed off,” Keith said.

The driver began to head in the wrong direction on Loop 1604, reaching speeds of up to 85 mph, with deputies on his tail, Keith said.

At one point, an 18-wheeler appeared to be headed directly toward him, so the driver swerved and hit the back end of Zach Elder’s pickup instead.

"I figured he was going to hit us head-on,” Elder said. "If I wouldn't have been paying attention, he would've killed me or my passenger."

The wrong-way driver’s pickup lost a wheel in the crash. However, he continued traveling another quarter-mile before losing control of his vehicle, Keith said.

Deputies arrested him at Loop 1604 near De Vilbiss Lane.

"We believe that the driver is under the influence of some form of narcotics," Keith said. “This is a very dangerous situation. We are very fortunate that nobody was seriously injured."


About the Authors:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Ben Spicer is a digital journalist who works the early morning shift for KSAT.