School Bus Driver in Crash Is Suspected of Being Drunk

The California Highway Patrol is considering asking the district attorney to pursue felony drunk-driving charges against the driver of a school bus that collided with a pickup truck, injuring three people.

Larry Urban, a CHP accident review officer, said Monday that the bus driver, Joseph Bolden, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after Friday’s accident.

Bolden was suspended without pay by Laidlaw Transit, where he has worked for three years, said Dave Daley, vice president of operations.

CHP Officer Gary Sharp said the initial investigation indicated that Bolden tried to pass another school bus while heading west on Balboa Avenue toward Mission Bay Drive about 2:30 p.m. and was unable to stop in time to avoid rear-ending the pickup, which was stopped at a traffic signal. AFter the initial impact, the pickup crashed into the rear of a third vehicle.

Sharp said officers had interviewed the two bus drivers and the people whose vehicles were hit. He said he expected to speak today to the Clairemont High School students who were on the 12-passenger bus.

He said the CHP was still awaiting the results of Bolden’s blood-alcohol test, which Sharp said he hoped would be available by the end of the week.

One of the injured, a student whose name was not released, suffered a bruised right shoulder. The driver of the pickup truck complained of back and neck pain, and pain in his left knee, Urban said. His passenger was complaining of pain in her right knee. All three were treated at Mission Bay Hospital and released. The driver of the third car, into which the pickup slammed, was not injured.