RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A man who rammed into a Jurupa Unified School District bus last year pled guilty on Thursday to eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to two years in prison on each count.
There were seven high school students on board the bus when Joseph Anthony Garcia crashed into it on Oct. 20, 2010, The Press-Enterprise reports. Moments before the crash, California Highway Patrol dispatchers notified the Riverside County Sheriff's Department that a man was climbing a highway overpass in an apparent attempt to leap to his death, as SBFpreviously reported.
After his suicide attempt failed, Garcia got into a Chevrolet HHR and drove the wrong way onto an off-ramp, and slammed into the school bus. The bus driver, Henry Montoya, swerved to avoid the car, but students said the car swerved also.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Helios J. Hernandez ruled that Garcia's prison terms will run concurrently, which means his sentence will be a total of two years, The Press-Enterprise reports. He was given credit for the 336 days he has been in jail, plus 168 days for good behavior.
A misdemeanor count of driving without a license was dismissed as part of the plea bargain.
