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Driver Of Semi That Collided With Alachua County School Bus Pleads Not Guilty To Careless Driving Charge

Sun City Transportation driver Alfredo Garcia pleaded not guilty to careless driving Wednesday, June 22, 2016, after the truck he was driving collided with an Alachua County Public Schools bus in May. A 15-year-old was injured in the collision. (Danielle Frew /WUFT News)
Sun City Transportation driver Alfredo Garcia pleaded not guilty to careless driving Wednesday, June 22, 2016, after the truck he was driving collided with an Alachua County Public Schools bus in May. A 15-year-old was injured in the collision. (Danielle Frew /WUFT News)

Forty-seven-year-old Sun City Transportation driver, Alfredo Garcia, pleaded not guilty to a charge of careless driving at a plea hearing in Alachua County Wednesday.

Garcia was the driver of the semi truck that struck an Alachua County Public Schools bus that had stopped to pick up students on Northeast Waldo Road shortly after 9 a.m. May 31.

Fifteen-year-old Howard Bishop Middle School student Dillon O'Brien was boarding the bus at the time. He was seriously injured in the collision and was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital. The boy's mother last week filed a civil law suit against Garcia and Sun City Transportation for damages in excess of $15,000.

Garcia, who required an interpreter in court, and his attorney Rachel Chewning declined to comment on the case.

Judge Thomas Jaworski presided over the hearing Wednesday. An evidentiary hearing in Garcia's traffic case is scheduled for Sept. 7, according to court records.

 

Alexis is a reporter for WUFT News and can be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.