School bus crash leads to lawsuit
REAGAN COUNTY The parents of four children hurt in a recent school bus crash are suing the company that owns the vehicle and the driver who collided with the back of the bus.
Jesus and Maria Elena Maldonado filed a lawsuit Friday morning in Reagan County against the Odessa driver of the fuel tank truck, Brandon Lee Cain, 27, and his employer Coastal Chemical Co., LLC. Nine children were injured in the wreck. There were no fatalities.
Abigail Maldonado, Raul Maldonado, Ivan Maldonado and Iveth Maldonado were all passengers on a Reagan County school bus Oct. 13 when the vehicles collided near Highway 137 and County Road 56. All four of the Maldonado children suffered serious injuries and were transported to hospitals in Midland and San Angelo.
Kevin Glasheen, the attorney for the family, said Ivan and Iveth Maldonado were still hospitalized.
Glasheen said no specific amount is being sought, but it would be significant.
“It’s likely to be a multimillion dollar claim,” Glasheen said. “It depends on how they recover from their injuries.”
Calls to Coast Chemical Co. were referred to Ed Parr, who faxed a statement sent earlier to the Reagan County ISD.
The statement said Coastal would accept all medical bills arising from the accident and the company was willing to “sit down and talk with (families) individually at any time they deem appropriate in order to provide appropriate compensation to those who were injured in the accident.”
