TEXAS Driver is charged in fatal bus crash

Juan Robles Gutierrez was negligent before flames killed 23 people, police say.
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS -- The 37-year-old driver initially hailed as a hero for helping elderly hurricane evacuees escape a bus fire last month now faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide for each of the 23 victims that perished.
Sheriff's officials said Juan Robles Gutierrez did a number of things wrong before flames engulfed the bus Sept. 23 on Interstate 45 in Wilmer, Texas, and the fact they found no proof that he helped people off the bus is only part of why they sought charges.
"When he starts the trip, he's got to do a walk around" inspection, said Dallas County Chief Deputy Gary Lindsey. Those inspections are to take place periodically throughout a trip.
"There's no indication he did that. ... He's trying to get the trip over with, and when you look at it, with all the other circumstances, it still doesn't relieve somebody from exercising the duty of taking care of everybody."
Sheriff's department officials declined to further explain why they filed the charges but did not rule out the possibility that other charges may be forthcoming against Global Limo Inc. in South Texas, which subleased the bus from a Maryland company that leased the bus from its Canadian owners.
"It's still a wide-open investigation," said Sgt. Don Peritz, sheriff's spokesman.
Federal regulators shut down Global, Robles' employer, earlier this month after determining that its fleet constituted an imminent hazard to the public.
Tragedy set into motion
Investigators believe poor maintenance caused the bus's rear wheel bearings to fail. Friction caused the wheel to heat up and lock first near Corsicana, where a tire blew. A local mechanic was called to repair it.
No one, including Robles, the mechanic, police or a state transportation representative on the scene, apparently recognized that the bus ought to be grounded.
Less then two hours later, the bearing again failed, causing a fire that killed 23 of the 45 passengers on board.
Robles had only a Mexican commercial driver's license and had not obtained a Texas license, which he is required to do after more than 30 days in the state.
Dallas County prosecutors are expected to present the sheriff's department's evidence to grand jurors, who then will determine whether Robles' actions were criminal. The grand jury could issue indictments on the charges as presented, choose to indict on lesser charges or throw all the charges out.
If Robles is convicted of criminally negligent homicide, which is a state jail felony, each count carries a maximum of two years in jail.
Immigration officials arrested Robles after the fire for entering the U.S. illegally. Late last week, federal marshals took him into custody as a criminal material witness.