A civil lawsuit has been filed in the case where a Mustang driven by Mario Perez crashed into an Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) bus in February, injuring several middle school students.
The families of the injured students filed a lawsuit against Perez, who police said was driving the Mustang when it crashed into the bus carrying students from George Sanchez Middle School. The lawsuit, according to a report by KOB 4, also lists Perez’s auto insurance company and Albuquerque Public Schools as defendants.
Perez, who was also injured in the crash, pled not guilty this week to a list of charges that includes reckless driving. He also faces 17 counts of child abuse. Seven students were hospitalized with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones.
According to the KOB 4 report, the lawsuit alleges Perez was “traveling above the posted speed limit.” The lawsuit also alleges the bus driver “failed to yield to passing traffic resulting in the collision which caused the APS school bus to flip on its side.”
According to KOB 4, the bus driver, Jaime Rios, told Albuquerque police the white Mustang driven by Perez “came out of nowhere” when the bus crossed the intersection at Gibson and Messina. Rios insisted he “cleared” the intersection before proceeding.
“By the time I had pretty much cleared it, the guy came and hit the back end of the tires,” Rios told KOB 4. “I was almost across already.”
