SAN ANTONIO – The driver of a pickup truck admitted to being on prescription drugs that can cause drowsiness before he crashed last month into a New Braunfels church bus, killing 13 people, search warrant affidavits said.
Related: Images: New Braunfels church bus crash victims
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The documents, released Tuesday, also said a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper found marijuana cigarettes in the 2007 Dodge Ram pickup driven by 20-year-old Jack Young.
According to an interview conducted by Uvalde County District Attorney investigator Monica Cervera, Young said he took generic forms of Ambien and Lexapro before the March 29 crash on Highway 83 near Garner State Park, the affidavits said.
Young told DPS Trooper Alexander Robertson at the scene that he took two clonazepam pills about an hour before the crash, the affidavits said. He told the trooper that the pills "make him sleepy."
According to Jeremy Meehan, a pharmacist, Ambien is a sleep aid and clonazepam is a depressant that has an effect similar to alcohol, the affidavits said. Meehan also said Lexapro can "contribute to impairment" and that the substances can easily impair a driver.
affidavits involving jack young.pdf by David Ibanez on Scribd
The affidavits also said DPS Trooper Rae Shel Lee found two full marijuana cigarettes and five partially smoked marijuana cigarettes in Young's pickup.
The documents also support reports that Young was texting and driving erratically before the fatal crash, which killed members of the First Baptist Church of New Braunfels who were returning from a retreat. One church member survived.
"I believe that the suspect (was) intoxicated" before the crash, DPS Trooper Scott Hewitt said in an affidavit.
Young has not been charged. The investigation is expected to take several weeks.
Video: Witness records erratic driving. Courtesy: Thania Sanchez
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