Homicide charges filed against driver in fatal bus crash

SPRINGFIELD, TENNESSEE - The driver of a Greyhound bus that crashed on Interstate 24 last August has been charged with homicide and assault in the accident that killed one passenger and injured 44 others. <br> <br> Nathaniel B. Waugh, 52, of St. Louis, Mo., turned himself in at the Robertson County sheriff&#39;s office Friday, according to his attorney, Larry Wilks of Springfield. <br> <br> The indictment, issued on Jan. 28 but sealed until Friday, charges the former Greyhound driver with vehicular homicide, aggravated assault and driving on a suspended license in the Aug. 19 accident. <br> <br> The bus was eastbound about 30 miles northwest of Nashville when it drifted from the right to left lanes and went into the median, investigators said. When the driver tried to steer back onto the road, the bus flipped over. <br> <br> Mark Linder, 33, of Augusta, Ga., died when he was thrown from the bus and trapped beneath it. <br> <br> Passengers said the driver had been falling asleep before the accident occurred. Waugh told investigators he couldn&#39;t remember what happened. <br> <br> A Tennessee Highway Patrol report attributed the crash to ``human error&#39;&#39; but stopped short of confirming those passenger accounts. <br> <br> Waugh boarded the Atlanta-bound bus in St. Louis at 12:15 a.m. and was to be relieved in Nashville, investigators said. The accident occurred about 7:25 a.m. <br> <br> Two days after the crash, state troopers charged Waugh with driving on a suspended license. He possessed a Missouri driver&#39;s license, but Tennessee officials said it wasn&#39;t valid because New York suspended his driving privileges in 1987 for failure to pay child support and failing to answer two traffic citations. <br> <br> Greyhound spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield said Saturday that the company terminated Waugh after conducting its own investigation of the accident. <br> <br> Waugh posted a $25,000 bond on Friday and returned to Missouri, his lawyer said. He is scheduled to appear in Robertson County Circuit Court on May 10.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/198048