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Alianiss Nunez Morales, 23, of Minneota, was booked into the Lyon County jail in Marshall on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation.
County Attorney Rick Maes said he hoped to file formal charges against Morales on Friday after reviewing additional reports from law enforcement, including witness statements.
Authorities were continuing to investigate the crash Thursday but were sending Maes information as they obtained it, said Lt. Brian West of the Minnesota State Patrol. The criminal vehicular operation charge means “driving conduct contributed to the death of another human being,” West said.
It remained unclear whether Morales had a valid driver’s license, and West declined to comment. She was convicted in 2006 of driving without a valid driver’s license, according to court records.
Morales was driving a van on Tuesday afternoon heading east on County Road 24, which has a stop sign as it intersects with state Highway 23, the road the bus was traveling. The van struck the bus, which rolled over onto a truck.
The driver of the truck told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that he saw the van run the stop sign.
“I saw the maroon van run a stop sign, it blew over the railroad tracks and hit the bus, sending it sliding into me,” James M. Hancock, 45, of Marshall, told the newspaper from his hospital bed in Sioux Falls, S.D. “The next thing I knew, they were hauling kids out and it was chaos.”
Hancock, who remained in fair condition, did not want to give interviews Thursday, said Kenyon Gleason, a spokesman for Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls, S.D.
West said he couldn’t say whether Morales ran the stop sign and wouldn’t discuss the circumstances of the crash.
“We’ve been examining as much information as we can, but we’re not able to discuss that at this point,” he said.
Before the arrest, Morales could not be reached for comment and did not have a listed phone number.
There are six levels of criminal vehicular operation under Minnesota law, and all but one are considered serious felonies. The charge comes when someone causes harm to another person while operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner or when under the influence of alcohol.
The crash killed brothers Jesse Javens, 13, and Hunter Javens, 9, both of Cottonwood; Reed Stevens, 12, of Marshall; and Emilee Olson, 9, of Cottonwood. They were among the 28 students on the Lakeview School bus. At least 14 other people were hurt.
More than 1,000 people attended a memorial service Thursday night at Lakeview School. Mourners who entered the school were greeted by photos of the victims and bouquets of flowers.
“The first thing you noticed when you walked into the gym was there were kids hugging each other, just holding each other in lengthy embraces,” said Rae Kruger, a reporter from the Marshall Independent who attended.
Kruger said there were stacks of Kleenex boxes at the end of every row of seats in the gymnasium.
Members of the Javens and Olson families were at the service, she said.
Classes had resumed Thursday with plenty of grief counselors on hand, Lakeview superintendent Sheldon Johnson said. Attendance numbers were at normal levels, and students seemed to be coping, he said.
“It’s difficult, but they’re probably handling it better than anyone would have thought,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible and still be sensitive to the needs of the children.”
The bus was driven by Dennis Devereaux, 52, of Cottonwood. His son, Steve, declined to comment on the arrest and said his father wasn’t speaking with reporters.
KSTP-TV reported that Devereaux rode his bus Thursday to be with the kids on his route. The station said many students rode the bus to school but some had parents drive them or accompany them on the bus.
Terry Lange, the ex-brother-in-law of the Javens brothers’ father, Marty, said Morales’ arrest helps answer some of the questions that have lingered after the crash.
“It really doesn’t change anything, but it makes a little more sense with everything going on here,” Lange said. “I feel bad for the van driver too. It’s just a terrible situation all the way around.”
Hancock and five of the injured children remained at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. One child was in serious condition, Gleason said. Mary Maertens, CEO of Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, said the child and adult who had been there were discharged Thursday. One student remained at Mayo Clinic in fair condition, she said.
Lakeview has about 585 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, serving Cottonwood and the nearby town of Wood Lake. The area is about 140 miles west of Minneapolis.
The Cottonwood crash was the deadliest involving a school bus in Minnesota since at least 1985, said Nathan Bowie, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
