Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Report: Bus crash driver had DUI history

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 7, 2008 at 2:34 PM

WOODLAND, Calif., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The driver of a bus that crashed last week in California, killing eight people, had a drunk driving record and fell asleep at the wheel, authorities allege.

Quintin Watts, 52, was behind the wheel when a casino-bound bus carrying 41 passengers he was driving drifted off a highway near Williams, Calif., and crashed, authorities told The Sacramento Bee. In addition to the eight killed, 35 others were injured in the mishap.

Watts, who was upgraded to fair condition at Woodland Memorial Hospital in Woodland, Calif., was under arrest on a charge of driving under the influence, police said.

He was described by the Bee as a down-on-his-luck former truck driver and parolee who was hired to drive the bus by his stepfather, the owner of the charter bus company.

The newspaper said it was Watts' first time piloting a bus. His stepfather, Daniel Cobb, 68, was among the fatalities of the crash.

"The driver was falling asleep, and (Cobb) was trying to wake the driver up," said Liw Saechao, Cobb's business partner. "Daniel grabbed the wheel and tried to put the bus brake on, and it was too late -- it was already flipping."

Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Top 5 answers are on the board: "Name some woman Richard Dawson will kiss inappropriately in heaven."...
You know those modular classrooms where you had to go for your art and French classes in high school?...
Ugly ass baby giraffe born in Southern Illinois zoo. Adorable pictures "я" us
If your neighbors ask if you and your wife are into swapping and suggest having a swapping party...
It's a lie
The hot new baffling non sequitur: Marrying yourself, complete with vows and ceremony. Subby is...