School Bus Plows Into Shopping Center

Eleven schoolchildren suffered minor injuries Wednesday when a school bus plowed through a Solana Beach shopping center parking lot, careened off a parked van and then crashed into a video store.

The bus driver, Robert Wykowski, 39, and a man standing next to the pickup that was hit by the van, Jerome K. Jones, 65, were taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla. Jones, of Rancho Santa Fe, was treated and released, said Edith High, a hospital spokeswoman. All but one of the 11 schoolchildren were treated and released.

Wykowski was in good condition, suffering bruises to his face and scrapes to his arms, High said.

California Highway Patrol Officer Dennis Ward said, after speaking with Wykowski at the hospital, the crash may have occurred because the bus driver blacked out.

“He said he was on the street and doesn’t remember hitting the store or the kids screaming,” Ward said.

Ward, who investigates school bus-related accidents, said he had checked out Wykowski’s license, and, “The guy is clean as a whistle. No violations, no accidents.”

However, he recommended that Wykowski’s license and bus operator certificate be suspended until his medical condition is fully evaluated.

Wykowski, a driver for Mark IV Charter Co., told Ward that 10 years ago he had fallen down, “for no apparent reason.”

At that time, doctors believed Wykowski may have had an epileptic seizure. He told Ward that his license was revoked and he was placed on Dilantin for two years. Wykowski said he did not have another seizure and was taken off the medication, according to Ward.

The 11 students were on the way to Fairbanks Ranch Country Day School.

Three children were taken to Scripps-La Jolla and all but one were treated and released. A 12-year-old girl, complaining of abdominal pain, was admitted for observation, High said.

The eight other children, ages 6 through 13, were taken to Scripps-Encinitas and Tri-City Medical Center. They were treated for bumps and bruises and released.

John Marinez, a California Highway Patrol spokesman, said the bus was southbound at 35 m.p.h. to 40 m.p.h on Stevens Avenue near Genevieve Street at 8:15 a.m., when it plowed through landscaping around the small shopping center. The bus traveled about 250 feet after going through the shrubbery before it hit the van. The impact propelled the van into a pickup truck, striking Jones.

The bus traveled about 25 feet into the Show Biz video store before it came to a stop. The walls of two adjoining stores--Jan’s Optica Boutique and Mattress Mania--also were damaged.

Ward said that Jones, the owner of Mattress Mania, had just parked his pickup truck when the van hit the truck.