Bus driver who hit child has day in court
Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/61281/
BENTONVILLE — A Bentonville school-bus driver admitted Monday to hitting a student but claims he did not know about the incident until the following day.
Donald Espeseth, 75, attempted to plead guilty Monday to leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, a class D felony, which is punishable with a sentence of up to six years in prison. He was pleading guilty under a plea proposal that his attorney, Tom Morris III, had reached with Deputy Prosecutor Carrie Dobbs.
According to court documents, Tyson Huffman, 6, got off the school bus at Trafalgar Road and Oxford Lane on Nov. 5, dropped something in front of the bus and bent over to retrieve it. Wendy Lott, who was in a vehicle behind the school bus, saw the bus move forward, hitting Huffman with both axles as the bus passed over him, according to an affidavit in the case.
Before addressing the court Monday, Espeseth apologized to the child and his family. He then described the incident to Circuit Judge Tom Keith.
Espeseth remembered car horns honking at him and a man trying to get him to stop the bus. Espeseth said he had difficulty hearing the man but believed the man said that he (Espeseth ) had a close call and almost hit a child. Espeseth said he looked in the mirrors but did not see a child and went back to the bus barn.
Espeseth said the first time he learned of the injured boy was when the director of transportation called Espeseth to his office the next morning and told him about the accident.
“ I would not leave an injured student and drive away, ” Espeseth said. “ I spent 36 years in the health-care field and certainly would have applied it in this instance. ”
The judge wanted the attorneys to provide case law on whether a person can be charged with leaving the scene of a personal-injury accident, even if he or she is unaware of being in an accident.
Keith took under advisement whether to accept the plea agreement. The judge will announce his decision at a May 12 hearing.
Huffman was treated at the hospital for injuries to his head, which required four staples after the accident. The child also suffered bruises and contusions to his left shoulder and back.
In a written statement, Espeseth said he was not aware that any injury had occurred to a student, and he did not see a student in his rearview mirror.
Espeseth tested negative for drugs and alcohol.