LENGBY, Minn. — The driver of a Grand Rapids school bus that crashed and injured a dozen students last month in eastern Polk County apparently fell asleep at the wheel, the Minnesota State Patrol has determined.
Stephen David Charnley, 57, was cited with duty to drive with due care in relation to the early May bus crash near Lengby, Sgt. Jesse Grabow said in an email. The State Patrol’s investigation is complete, he said, but the case in Polk County District Court still is pending.
Charnley was driving a school bus that was carrying 22 high school students from Independent School District 318 in Grand Rapids to Crookston for a field trip when it went into a ditch around 8:20 a.m. May 7 on U.S. 2. Charnley lost control of the bus, which overturned, state troopers determined.
Charnley, Grand Rapids social studies teacher Eric Northard and 12 students were injured in the crash, though no one seriously. All students returned home the day of the crash.
The incident report will not be available to the public until the matter is settled in Polk County District Court. A duty to drive with due care citation was filed June 7 in court against Charnley, according to court records.
Grabow declined to say whether medical conditions played a role in the crash, adding that information would have to come from the incident report when it is released. He did say the driver “appeared to fall asleep behind the wheel of the bus during the bus trip.”
When asked if Charnley would face disciplinary measures from the school district, Grand Rapids school district spokeswoman Jessica Setness said the case remains under investigation by the State Patrol. Any citations would be used as a training opportunity for the district, she added.
Lengby is about 35 miles west of Bemidji.