Amended charges filed over fatal bus crash

By

A Texas bus driver involved in a crash last year that killed four people will face manslaughter charges because there isn't enough evidence to charge him with negligent homicide, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Felix Badillo Tapia, 29, of Brownsville, Texas, faces four counts of manslaughter, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Prosecutors filed the amended charges before a court hearing Wednesday about the case.

Under Arkansas law, felony negligent homicide charges require proving a person is intoxicated by alcohol or drugs in a vehicle crash. Otherwise, the charges would be considered a misdemeanor.

Prosecutor Fletcher Long said that responding Arkansas State Police troopers and local police did not conduct a field sobriety test on Tapia after the crash on Interstate 40 in St. Francis County. No officer recalled whether Tapia had trouble working or acted strangely after the crash, Long said.

Reports from the later police investigation show officers found amphetamines in Tapia's possession and witnesses said he was talking on a cellular phone at the time of the crash. The reports show Tapia claimed he lost consciousness and fell to the floor before the crash after taking a sip of soda.

"We know he had what we're pretty sure were illegal drugs in his possession at the time of the occurrence, however, he's told two or three different stories about that," Long said. "We don't have a policeman who observed him at the scene of the accident ... because obviously, there were too many other things going on at that time. There were hurt and dead people around."

Tapia was driving the Tornado Bus Co. bus from Chicago to Dallas when it crossed the median near Forrest City on Nov. 25, 2007. The bus slammed into a pickup truck and a tractor trailer, killing three bus passengers and the pickup's driver. More than 20 others were injured.

The penalties for negligent homicide and manslaughter are the same in Arkansas. However, Long said he wanted to make sure the harsher charges stuck, as misdemeanor charges "don't sound right when you've got four dead people."

Tapia remains free on $50,000 bond. Tonya Alexander, a West Memphis lawyer representing the bus driver, did not return a call for comment. Alexander previously said Tapia was not intoxicated at the time of the crash and only had "diet pills."

Tornado Bus Co., based in Dallas, caters primarily to Hispanic passengers, advertising its routes to Mexico. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered the bus company to cease operations after the crash because it was an "imminent hazard to public safety." The federal agency later lifted some of the carrier's restrictions.