Police: 7 boys injured after pickup runs into kids at bus stop; driver with suspended license arrested



MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. -- Seven middle school aged boys were run over by a pickup truck while standing at their school bus stop Thursday morning.

Incredibly, none of the kids was killed. Witnesses said the 19-year-old driver might have had a seizure before the crash. But police said he wasn’t supposed to be driving because his license is suspended for of medical reasons.

Teenager Max Pringle said he was injured during the accident and he said he is lucky to walk away with some minor road rash.

“All they told me was to take some ibuprofen and make sure it doesn’t swell up,” he said. “We didn’t really talk, we just kind of stared at what happened. We couldn’t believe what had happened.”

Police said the driver crossed the road and then barreled directly into about 20 children waiting at the school bus stop. Amazingly, only seven kids were hurt; police said one child had a broken leg and another suffered chest injuries.

A tree stopped the truck from traveling any farther. Behind the vehicle were kids, backpacks and shoes scattered across the ground.

“I looked up there and kind of saw the smoke and I thought something’s going on,” said neighbor Eric Jhanson.

Jhanson said he found the truck’s driver unconscious with his foot stuck on the gas. Jhanson said he had to break the window to turn off the engine.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t worse,” he said.

But King County sheriff’s deputies said the driver shouldn’t have been on the road in the first place because his license had been suspended for medical reasons.

“His license was suspended so that changes everything,” said sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West. “He should not have been behind the wheel.”

“There were a couple kids that you could tell were in a lot of pain,” said Garth Pringle, Max’s father.

The Pringles said they were still shaken after the crash; Max took the day off from classes. All of the injured children were students at nearby Cedar River Middle School.

Police have not yet identified the driver, but he has since been booked into jail. He could face vehicular assault charges.