School buses involved in 2 unrelated crashes

Incidents occurred on Douglas Road, Airport Highway

3/3/2014
BLADE STAFF
  • car-vs-tps-bus-on-douglas-rd

    A car remains wedged underneath the rear of a Toledo Public Schools bus on Douglas Road.

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  • Editor's note: This story corrects a previous report that said uninjured students on the TPS bus were transported to school by another bus.

    A Chrysler Cirrus under the back end of a bus on Douglas Road.
    A Chrysler Cirrus under the back end of a bus on Douglas Road.

    A 17-year-old girl was taken to ProMedica Toledo Hospital today after her vehicle crashed into a Toledo Public Schools bus. The car became wedged underneath the rear of the bus.

    Leann Ketchum suffered serious injures during the early morning crash, police said.

    Her condition was not immediately available from the hospital.

    The Ketchum youth was trapped in the wreckage in the 4300 block of Douglas for about 25 minutes, officials said.

    Also taken to Toledo Hospital were Ricardo Gonzales, 16, Sophia Sparks, 46, and Denise Jones, whose age was not immediately available.

    Ms. Sparks was driving the bus, while Ms. Jones is a bus aide. The bus was just starting its run to pick up students who attend Westfield Achievement, a TPS spokesman said, and was at its first stop.

    At about 7 a.m., the bus was stopped in the southbound curb lane of Douglas Road, and the bus had its flashers on, according to a police report. Young Gonzales, who is a TPS student, was on the bus, and Ms. Sparks was waiting for another student to board the bus, according to the TPS spokesman.

    Young Ketchum, who was southbound, hit the rear of the bus and was trapped in her vehicle. The Toledo Fire Department had to use the "Jaws of Life" to remove her.

    Douglas Road was closed for about 2.5 hours, according to police.

    Young Gonzales was taken to the hospital for observation, according to TPS.  The bus was towed to the district's garage. There were no other students on the bus, and no other district bus was dispatched to the scene.

    The incident remains under investigation by police.

    Another injury crash, this time involving a Swanton Local Schools bus, occurred about 8:20 a.m. at Airport Highway and Main Street in Swanton, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

    Injured were the bus driver and the driver of a pickup truck. They were taken to area hospitals with unknown injuries, a dispatcher at the patrol's Bowling Green post said.

    Swanton Police Chief William Talbott could not be reached for comment but the person who answered a phone call at his office said Swanton police were not involved in investigating the crash. 

    There were children on the bus but none of them was injured, according to the office of the schools' Superintendent Jeff Schlade. 

    The crash remains under investigation by the patrol.