Atlanta truck driver accused of driving off after hitting school bus, seriously injuring driver

ATLANTA — An Atlanta truck driver has been arrested after investigators said he hit a school bus with his semi-truck and later took off.

The crash happened around 11:15 p.m. Thursday along Interstate 65 in Jasper County, Indiana.

When Indiana State troopers got to the scene, they found the bus in a ditch along the interstate.

“The semi initially pulled over and Good Samaritans stopped to render aid to both the driver of the bus and the semi driver,” state troopers said in a news release.

But right after that, investigators said the truck driver, Aregay Tesfay Gebremariam, 57, of Atlanta, GA, suddenly took off.

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“The trailer of the semi had substantial damage and it was quite apparent that the vehicle had been involved in a significant crash very recently,” troopers said.

As troopers and first responders helped to get the bus driver out, another trooper found the Gebremariam’s semi-truck at a Love’s Truck Stop.

The trooper questioned Gebremariam, according to the news release, and said he gave the trooper “statements inconsistent with what had happened on the interstate.”

Gebremariam was arrested and has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving catastrophic bodily injury, which is a level 4 felony.

The driver of the bus was stuck inside the vehicle for several hours as area firefighters helped to get him out.

Once they got him out, he was taken to a nearby hospital. He was later taken to a Chicago hospital for his life-threatening injuries.

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