School bus driver cited in mishap/ Woodland Park girl home from

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Apr 3, 2002 by Carlos Acevedo

Police cited a Woodland Park school bus driver with three misdemeanor counts Tuesday relating to a mishap in March that injured two students, one seriously.

Wesley Ray Lucus, 44, was cited for careless driving causing an injury, failing to notify the police of an accident and for a violation of the district's school bus policy, which stipulates drivers must immediately notify authorities about an accident.

"Some kids indicated that the driver had been told the girl was hurt, while some kids and the bus driver said he wasn't told," said Sgt. Jim Halloran of the Woodland Park Police Department.

Students told investigators Lucus was driving too fast, which police could not confirm. Lucus, a substitute driver on that route, said the bus was traveling at or below the posted speed limit of 25 mph, Halloran said.

Lucus and his supervisor, Dawn Dezellum, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. They work for Durham Transportation Service, the company contracted to provide bus service for Woodland Park School District.

John Pacheco, superintendent of schools in Woodland Park, did not return phone calls. He previously has referred questions to Durham Transportation.

The incident occurred March 20 when the bus, carrying 25 students, hit a dip at the intersection of Browning Avenue and Evergreen Street en route to Woodland Park High School. Jessica Rumery, 14, and Shannon Ledom, 15, were hurt, police said.

Rumery was treated at Memorial Hospital for minor injuries, but Ledom was sent to the intensive care unit with a lacerated liver. She was released Thursday and will return to school next week, she said.

When the bus hit the dip, Ledom was thrown upward. Coming down, her stomach hit the seat back, she said.

"It knocked the wind out of me, then I collapsed on the floor and other students rushed to help me," she said.

She remembers students yelling for the driver to stop. But he continued, making one more stop. At the school, friends helped Ledom to the nurse's office, where she passed out, she said.