Special-needs bus involved in crash

SLIDELL, La. — Last month, police and deputies from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash involving a special-needs school bus, an unmarked vehicle belonging to the sheriff’s office and a Dodge Ram pickup. 

Investigators believe that 39-year-old Angela Brown was driving the Dodge pickup the morning of Dec. 2 at a high speed on a highway. As she approached a traffic signal on the highway’s off-ramp, she failed to stop, smashing into the rear of a Ford Fusion that belonged to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office. After hitting the Ford, the pickup continued on, striking the rear of the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools bus, which was also stopped at the traffic signal.  

After being extricated from the truck by firemen, Brown was transported from the scene by ambulance and then airlifted to a hospital in New Orleans. An 8-year-old female passenger in the Ford Fusion was also transported to a hospital with minor injuries; she was treated and released. 

Of the seven children on the bus, only one, a 12-year-old boy, was transported to a hospital for a minor injury; he was expected to be released the same day.   
   
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation since one of its units was involved in the incident. Blood was drawn from the driver of the pickup truck to test for drugs and/or alcohol.

The bus driver and the deputy were not injured in the accident.