MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A school bus driver has been charged with third-degree DWI after crashing into a tree with children on board Tuesday afternoon, according to Winona County authorities.
Karl Herber, 54, was driving five children from the Lewiston-Altura School District when the bus left the road and hit a tree on Fern Valley Drive, near County Road 28.
(credit: Winona County)
None of the children on the bus — including a kindergartner, two third graders, a second grader and a fifth grader — were injured.
The sheriff’s office was notified around 4:44 p.m. Upon arrival roughly half an hour later, a tow truck was on scene and the children had been picked up by another bus and transported to their homes.
According to the Winona County Chief Deputy Ron Ganrude, Herber showed signs of intoxication at the scene, swaying back and forth, with an unsteady balance and smelling of alcohol.
Deputies performed a field sobriety test with Herber and arrested him. At the Winona County Jail, a breath test indicated a blood alcohol concentration of 0.09.
