NEWS

School bus crash near Solon kills 1

Holly Hines
hhines2@press-citizen.com
Officials with the Iowa State Patrol, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Solon Community School District and other offices responded Thursday to a crash with one fatality involving a Solon school bus.

An Ely woman died and a man was seriously injured in a crash involving a car and a Solon school bus Thursday afternoon just west of Solon. Four of the roughly 30 elementary and middle school students on the bus sustained minor injuries.

Iowa State Patrol Trooper Eric Payne confirmed that the driver of the 2010 Ford Fusion that collided with the bus, Patricia Ann Howell, 73, died at the scene. A second passenger, Bunyan T. Howell, 75, of Ely, was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The crash occurred at about 2 p.m. near Ely Road and Iowa Highway 382 west of Solon. Classes for the Solon Community School District dismissed at 1:45 p.m. Thursday.

An Iowa State Patrol crash report reads that the driver of the Ford Fusion attempted to turn east into the path of the school bus, which was headed westbound on Highway 382.

Officials from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Linn County Sheriff's Office, Solon and Ely fire departments and the Johnson County Secondary Road Department assisted at the scene, the report reads.

The crash remains under investigation, according to the report.

Solon Superintendent Sam Miller said Thursday that the bus driver involved, Jerry Francis Lindeman, 75, of Solon, notified district officials about 2 p.m. that he had been in a crash.

"At that time, we implemented our emergency management plan," Miller said.

Miller said officials called 911 and went to the scene shortly thereafter. He said when he arrived, he found an emergency responder assessing students on board the bus.

Miller said that a school staff member called the parents of students who were on the bus, and that the district also notified parents about the incident via email and text messages through the district's notification system.

He said district officials followed protocol by accounting for all students on the bus, and then allowed some parents at the scene to take their children home. Other children went home on a different bus.

Solon sixth-grader Brayden Rickertsen was on the bus when the crash happened. He said he felt the bus sliding, heard a "boom," and then looked out the window at the car.

"We saw it had a humongous dent in it," he said.

Brayden said the incident scared him at first, because he didn't know what had happened. He said he was told to look forward after the impact, and that he didn't see much after that.

Jess Rickertsen, Brayden's father, said his son texted him about the crash and told him everyone on the bus seemed to be fine. He said he drove to the scene after that to check on his son.

"I just headed this way in case he needed a ride," Rickertsen said.

Miller said safety is the district's top priority in situations such as this.

"It's always very deeply concerning," he said. "When we have a situation like this, we want to first make sure our kids are attended to."

Beginning Friday morning, district and Grant Wood AEA counselors will be available at Lakeview Elementary to provide support for students and families, Miller said.

An Iowa State Patrol officer at the scene of an accident involving a Solon school bus confirmed one person from the vehicle that collided with the bus has died.