New info on school bus-police cruiser accident involving Twain Middle School students

The unmarked police car and school bus are seen after the crash. (FCPD images)

Two students, an adult chaperone, and a police officer injured in yesterday’s collision between a school bus and a police car were all treated and released from a local hospital that day, according to information provided by the Fairfax Police and a Fairfax County Public Schools spokesman.

The investigation into the cause of the collision is ongoing, the police announced Friday, but noted that speed and alcohol were not believed to be involved. The bus, carrying students from Mark Twain Middle School on Franconia Road, pulled in front of the police officer’s unmarked Crown Victoria at the intersection of Backlick Rd. and Floyd Avenue in Springfield, according to the police. The bus was carrying 40 students and five adults, including the 58-year-old driver.

The police car was responding to a non-emergency call at the time of the collision. It did not have its lights and siren on, and was not “driving in an expedited manner,” according to the FCPD.

The bus driver remains on duty, according to John Torre, public information officer for Fairfax County Public Schools.

The collision marked the second major crash a Fairfax County Police car has been involved in in the last six days. On April 2, a cruiser struck and killed Jeffrey Ponce Aguilar on Beulah Street near the Wegmans shopping center. According to police, Aguilar was crossing the street against the green light and stepped in front of the police car’s path.

The police announced today that the investigation of the crash is ongoing and that the officer, a two-year veteran of the force, remains on administrative leave. The police only identified the officer by his last name, Salino.