NC Man Charged In Hit-And-Run School Bus Stop

[Anthony]

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A 10-year-old boy and his 5-year-old sister were seriously injured early Thursday morning in a hit-and-run as they tried to get on a school bus in Wilson County Thursday morning.
The two children were taken to Wake Medical Center. They reportedly suffered broken bones and were hospitalized in serious condition, said Lt. Jeff Gordon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
The incident happened around 7 a.m. The school bus came to a complete stop and with the stop arm extended. The siblings attempted to cross the street when they were hit by the vehicle. The driver then fled the scene.
The driver of the Ford Explorer that hit them, Marcos Santiaga Bautista, 27, of Sims, was later found and arrested.
Police located him about a mile away from the accident behind a tobacco barn at a working farm.
Authorities say Bautista is a native of Mexico and in the U.S. illegally. They say he is a fugitive with an outstanding deportation warrant. He failed to attend a Non-Detention Immigration Hearing in South Carolina.
Authorities say this is the third time a young student has been hit at a bus stop in two weeks.
Gordon said it is very important for drivers to pay attention, and make sure to stop when a bus has its lights on and the stop arm out.
"The school buses are big. They're yellow, and they're there for a reason, and that reason is simple and that's to pick kids up and drop them off. So if you see one, they're going to stop eventually, so don't try to beat the bus stop," said Gordon.
Bautista is charged with felony hit and run, felony passing a stopped school bus, having no driver's license, no vehicle registration, and having a fake tag. Bond was set at $1,002,000.
He is scheduled for his first court appearance on those charges Friday morning.

 

[Peninha]

I really don't get this, accidents do happen, but hit and run it's a crime and we should not leave the place to ensure the people are safe. He was a criminal, but he should have stopped even so.

 

[mimsee]

Certainly the reason he fled the scene was because he was an illegal immigrant, but even so..how selfish do you have to be to seriously harm two children and not even stay to see that they will receive medical attention?? No wonder he had a deportation warrant outstanding if this is the kind of man he is.