CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — The Chesapeake Police Department has updated their release on the April 8 school bus crash on Jolliff Landing Parkway, after a concerned father told 10 On Your Side the initial report was incorrect.
At the time, police told 10 On Your Side that no students were on the bus, and no one was injured.
After our story aired, a father reached out and said that wasn’t the case, and that his daughter suffered a concussion.
“I noticed that it left out that there was no mention that the officer stated that there were no students on board,” Carl Rutherford said. “Clearly, there was my daughter speaking to me throughout the whole ordeal.”
He added: “Another piece that was missing was the type of accident. It was stated that it was a rear end, but it was actually more like a sideswipe. The video footage also shows that accurately.”
Leo C. Kosinski, a Chesapeake Master Police Officer, sent WAVY 10 an update following the initial release of this post, stating 14 students were on the bus.
According to Kosinski, all 14 of the students were checked by medics at the time of the crash and released with no report of injuries.
Eden Rutherford, a sophomore at Deep Creek High School, said she was on the bus and got picked up around 7:15 a.m.
Almost an hour later, there was a call to 911 about a crash.
“The bus kind of like stopped, almost, and everyone thought that he crashed into like a pole or something like that, or like a pothole,” Eden Rutherford said. “The bus accelerated and, like, started like swerving a bit and all of us started like flying around in our seats.”
Eden Rutherford said she hit her head and ended up in the seat across from her. She remembers first responders on the scene.
“We stayed there for, maybe like 10 minutes, and then I think that’s when we turned around, and we saw the pickup truck behind us,” she said. “The whole front part was gone. There it was, like leaking. Then, I think the fire department came and then we got off the bus.”
Eden Rutherford said no one talked to her or the other dozen students about the accident. She said another bus took her to school.
She is still dealing with pain after the incident.
“She started mentioning the numbness,” Carl Rutherford said. “I saw the swelling of the face, concern started to settle in more.”
Doctors told the Deep Creek High School sophomore she had a concussion, and the pain still had not worn off.
Carl Rutherford wanted the public to know the full story.
He said the story is a reminder to be safe on the road.