NORMAN, Okla. — An attorney said video will show that an Oklahoma elementary school principal was using his cellphone when he crashed a bus filled with students in Texas, injuring 27 passengers — a claim the principal has denied.
David Smith, an attorney representing a girl who was critically injured in the crash, asked a judge to order Norman Public Schools to release the bus video he says will prove Ty Bell was using his cellphone Sept. 29, when he lost control of the school bus, The Oklahoman reported. Bell had been driving Cleveland Elementary School students to Sea World in San Antonio.
Smith said the Texas Highway Patrol requested the video for its investigation, but that the district refused to cooperate.
“The Texas Highway Patrol suspected Ty Bell was using his cellphone at the time of the crash and caused the crash,” Smith wrote in his request. “The bus in question is equipped with video which shows the actions of Ty Bell at the time of the crash. Norman Public Schools possesses this video.”
Bell’s attorney Tracy Schumacher called the cellphone claim “false and untrue.”
“The Texas law enforcement officers investigated the use of a cellphone by Ty Bell immediately prior to and at the time of the accident. They found none,” Schumacher said. “There were two adults seated directly behind Ty Bell who could have seen cellphone use. They saw none.”
Norman Public Schools filed a separate motion, seeking an order to protect “the confidentiality of the video of the accident.”