A bus driver was acquitted Tuesday of homicide charges in the deaths of
four passengers killed when his double-decker crashed into an overpass
in upstate New York.
A judge announced the verdict after a non-jury trial for 60-year-old
John Tomaszewski of Yardville, N.J. Tomaszewski would have faced up to
four years in state prison on each of four counts of criminally
negligent homicide. He sat with his head bowed and showed no reaction as
Onondaga County Court Judge Anthony Aloi read the verdict.
"It was a tragic accident and four people lost their lives," Tomaszewski
said as he left court. "It's something I'll have to deal with the rest
of my life."
There were 29 passengers on the Megabus when the top of the bus hit the
railroad bridge in Salina, just outside Syracuse, early on the morning
of Sept. 11, 2010.
Tomaszewski was driving from Philadelphia to Toronto with a planned stop
at the Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse when he missed an
exit from Interstate 81 and ended up on the parkway instead.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarksi said during the trial that
Tomaszewski was using a personal GPS device as he tried to find his way
to the bus station and passed 13 low-bridge warning signs, some with
flashing yellow lights, before the wreck.
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