Dump truck driver cited in Libertyville school bus crash
The driver of a dump truck involved in a chain-reaction crash that injured 17 children Thursday near Libertyville has been cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Jorge Tapia-Reves, 44, of the 100 block of Hilton Place, Elgin, is scheduled to appear in a Lake County branch court in Round Lake Beach at 3 p.m. Sept. 4 on the traffic charge, authorities said.
The crash occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday in the westbound lanes of Route 137 (Buckley Road) at River Road, according to Lake County Sheriff's police. Three school buses carrying children ages 5 to 14 were slowing for traffic in front of them when the dump truck struck the rear of one of the buses, pushing it into the two other buses.
Seventeen children were hospitalized for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries while more than 135 other children and counselors were evaluated by paramedics on the scene, authorities said. The buses were carrying children and counselors from the North Suburban YMCA summer camp in Northbrook.
None of the drivers were injured.