WARSAW, N.Y. — Friday afternoon at Warsaw Elementary, two pickup trucks crashed into the wall of the school’s library when a driver blew past a stop sign while traveling 80 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone and leaving investigators with more questions than answers.
“I don't know that any of us went down there expecting to see what we did end up seeing,” said Matthew Wilkins, Superintendent of Warsaw Schools.
The 61-year-old driver claimed the accelerator in his Ford F150 malfunctioned, causing him to T-bone another truck and push it with him into the side of the library, just missing a class of 15 kindergarteners that sat inside.
“It's a fairly long library,” Wilkins said. “They were on the other end of the library from where the impact was, luckily, very, we're very fortunate.”
The two drivers were left in critical condition and were airlifted to two separate hospitals with life-threatening injuries but are now in stable condition.
“There will be some traffic summons and charges pursued,” said Peter Hoffmeister, Chief of Police Warsaw Police Department. “But right now we're still letting him deal with his health issues first. That's a priority.”
Investigators are now looking for answers but say they can’t move along with their investigation until they can speak with the 61-year-old driver who is set to undergo surgery and hasn’t been able to speak since the crash. Both vehicles are now in evidence and criminal charges are pending.
“We are waiting for what we call the black boxes of both vehicles to be downloaded Wednesday,” said Hoffmeister said. “They’ll show the speeds, brakes, and stuff like that for the vehicle. So that'll be good evidence that we'll use.”
But for now, some normalcy in the town of just 5,000, as its only elementary reopened its doors Monday.
“The community response was amazing,” Wilkins said. “I ran straight from my office, and by the time I got out there we had first responders, the roads were already blocked off, and that was probably within a minute.”
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