Driver charged with DUI after school bus crashes into house in West Caldwell, New Jersey

By NICK CALOWAY, WEB STAFF

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    WEST CALDWELL, New Jersey (WCBS) — It was a scary scene in New Jersey on Friday when a school bus rammed through a man’s home.

Luckily, there weren’t any kids on board, but we’re learning that the driver may have been intoxicated.

“I was dropping my boys off at school when I just saw the bus flying into the house,” neighbor Karen Zieleniewski said.

Neighbors watched in horror as the big yellow bus went careening into the house.

“I heard big thumps, looked out and saw the bus into the house,” one person said.

The house belongs to Siva Thangam, who, thankfully, had already gone to work when the bus went smashing through one of his bedrooms.

“It actually went through all my computer and everything is gone,” he said.

The bus had no students on board at the time of the crash.

Police say the driver, who had recently just dropped students off at the nearby Essex County vocational-technical school had a blood alcohol content of at least .04.

Thirty-seven-year-old Anthony Stuckey, of Newark, was arrested and charged with:

Driving while intoxicated, Fifteen counts of endangering the welfare of a child, DUI with minor passengers, And operating a commercial vehicle without a proper CDL, among other charges. The bus is operated by Phoenix Transportation Service. CBS2 went to the company’s bus yard in Newark. People there had no comment.

Neighbors say the stretch of roadway where the crash happened is on a particularly dangerous curve, and drivers have been known to lose control there.

“They recently put the guardrails up because of that. The past couple of years, there’s been some incidents here,” neighbor Nicole Perez said.

In fact, it’s not the first time a vehicle ended up in Thangam’s front yard. Just two years ago, one crashed into his landscaping.

“I replaced the tree. In hindsight, I should have put better bushes. Ha,” he said.

The bus was removed, but the damage is significant. The foundation actually shifted during the massive collision.

The homeowner told CBS2 he is staying in a hotel Friday night until he can have the damaged assessed.

CBS2 reached out to the Essex County Schools of Technology District for comment. So far, no word back.

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