LENOIR COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – NC Highway Patrol says a juvenile was driving the pickup that slammed into the back of a stopped Lenoir County School bus Thursday and has been charged.
Troopers say the boy was under 18 and is being charged as a juvenile with failure to reduce speed. Troopers say because the driver is under 18, they are not releasing his name.
Everyone injured in the crash has been released from the hospital.
The truck rear-ended the school bus around 3:30 p.m. on Pauls Path Road and Ben Dail Road, between Kinston and La Grange.
Lenoir County spokesman Bryan Hanks says the bus was from La Grange Elementary School. Troopers said there were about 21 children on the bus and five of them were taken to UNC Lenoir Health Care.
The pickup was towing lawnmowers and its driver was airlifted to ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville. He was released from the hospital around midnight.
The truck ran off the road and the man was pinned in the crash.