School bus driver recalls what happened before deadly Chester County crash

CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — Four days after a Lexington School District 2 bus overturned in Chester County, the driver of the bus wrote a letter documenting his version of events. The school district released the letter to Channel 9 on Monday in response to a records request.

A 13-year-old student died in the April 17 crash on Interstate 77 in Chester County after the bus flipped on its side. Chester County Emergency Management said 38 people had to be taken to the hospital.

The 13-year-old who died was Jose Maria Gonzales Linares, an eighth grader at Pine Ridge Middle School. The students were returning from a field trip at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

On April 21, the bus driver wrote a letter addressed “to whom it may concern.”

The bus driver said in the letter that at 6:20 a.m. on April 17, he performed “a routine pre-trip inspection” on the bus, D-12. The letter says all tires were checked and deemed to be safe for travel.

In the letter, the bus driver said near mile marker 55 on the way back to school from the field trip, he passed a semi-truck while driving in the left passing lane. The bus driver said after he got back in the right lane, he heard a “boom” which appeared to come from the front passenger side.

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The bus driver said the bus then became difficult to steer and he made contact with a guard rail.

“The impact caused the bus to flip and land on its right passenger side before coming to rest,” the letter said.

The letter was one of 210 pages released to Channel 9 as part of a records request.

A spokesperson for the district declined to further comment.

“Lexington Two will not offer further comment on these records, or the April 17 incident, due to the ongoing investigation” a spokesperson said.

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