Pickup driver hits back of Redmond school bus

A woman who said she’d glanced at a horse in a pasture along Tumalo Road north of Bend on Wednesday afternoon ran into the back of a stopped Redmond school bus carrying 18 students, sending her to the hospital with minor injuries and a citation, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

One of the 18 Redmond middle and high school students on the bus also complained of minor injuries and was released to their parent at the scene, they said.

A county field law enforcement technician witnessed the crash of a 2003 Dodge Dakota driven by Debrah Veronese, 61, into the back of the full-size school bus on Tumalo Road near 92 nd Street, said Sgt. Mike Sundberg.

An investigation determined the school was stopped at a drop-off spot, facing east on Tumalo Road, and getting ready to release passengers, Sundberg said. The bus had its yellow caution flashers on and the stop sign was starting to extend, he added.

At that time, the silver pickup driven by Veronese, also heading east, failed to stop and hit the back of the stopped school bus, causing her vehicle’s airbags to deploy, the sergeant said.

Veronese was taken by Bend Fire ambulance to St. Charles Bend with minor injuries. The bus driver, Matthew Kutcher, was not hurt, but one of the children complained of minor injuries.

Veronese was cited for following too closely, Sundberg said. An investigation determined alcohol was not a factor in the crash, and the driver distraction was not a cellphone.

“She said she looked into a pasture at a horse, looked up and the bus was right there,” Sundberg said.

The road was closed for about an hour while both vehicles were towed from the scene.

Oregon State Police assisted the sheriff’s office in the investigation.