The bus driver involved in the airport-area wreck that injured 17 people won’t be charged with felonies, Fulton County Jail officials said.
An arrest warrant was filed earlier this week for Yolanda Boles, charging her with driving with an improper license, operating an unsafe vehicle, operating a vehicle with improper tires and three counts of serious injury by vehicle.
Boles and 16 passengers were injured on May 24 when the hotel shuttle bus she was driving slammed into a tractor-trailer that was making an illegal U-turn on Loop Road in College Park, authorities said.
Jail officials confirmed that the three counts of serious injury by vehicle – felonies that carry a maximum combined 45-year sentence – no longer existed on Boles’ list of charges.
A spokeswoman for MTI Limos and Shuttles, the company that owns and operates the bus Boles was driving, said the felony charges were dropped during a first appearance Thursday morning before a Fulton County magistrate.
“The anticipated felony charges lacked statutory merit,” Boles’ attorney, Joe Habachy, said in a statement.
Boles was booked into the Fulton County Jail and awaits release on a $1,500 signature bond, according to jail officials.
Charges also were filed against the driver of the big rig, Mario Cochran. Police charged Cochran with the same three felony counts of serious injury by vehicle, as well as making an illegal U-turn.
It is unclear if he turned himself in to police or whether his charges were reduced as Boles’ were.
Neither Cochran nor Boles could be reached for comment.
Police also charged MTI owner Mike Toye with allowing a person to drive an unsafe vehicle, a misdemeanor.
In a statement, Toye said he felt vindicated by the reduction of the charges against Boles.
“The safe passage of our guests has been the hallmark of our success, and will remain our top priority,” he said.
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