Jose Heriberto Fraga Acosta, Isaias Miranda Pascal Death – The man who is alleged to have caused the deaths of at least eight individuals in a bus crash on a Florida highway has provided investigators with new information. According to an arrest report, Bryan Maclean Howard admitted to smoking marijuana oil the night before the incident and being involved in another accident just three days prior. Howard now faces eight charges of driving under the influence manslaughter after his pickup truck collided with a bus, causing it to veer off the road early Tuesday morning.
The collision occurred when the former school bus and the truck were traveling in opposite directions, and the truck veered towards the center line, as stated by the highway patrol. The bus overturned and collided with two fences on the outskirts of Dunnellon, a city in central Florida, resulting in injuries to approximately 40 other individuals, some of whom sustained serious injuries. Several victims remain in critical condition at a local hospital.
According to the arrest report filed by the Florida Highway Patrol, Howard informed investigators that he had spent Monday night with a friend who possessed a medical marijuana card, and they had both consumed marijuana oil. Additionally, before going to bed, Howard claimed to have taken some prescription medications.
On Tuesday morning, Howard left his parents’ residence at approximately 6:30 a.m. to drive to a methadone clinic in Ocala, Florida, for treatment of a chipped vertebrae in his back, as detailed in the arrest report.
Howard stated that he was driving cautiously due to a previous incident where he had crashed his mother’s car into a tree three days earlier while attempting to avoid an animal that ran across his path, according to the report.
During the interview with the highway patrol, Howard’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, and his speech was slurred and difficult to understand, as noted in the report. Following his arrest on Tuesday afternoon, a breath test revealed that Howard had a blood alcohol level of 0.000%.
A judge ordered Howard to be held without bond during a virtual court appearance on Wednesday morning. His next court hearing is scheduled for June.
The bus was transporting approximately 53 farmworkers to a watermelon field located approximately 80 miles northwest of Orlando.
The ages of the deceased victims range from…
