The driver of a hotel shuttle bus involved in a wreck last Friday that injured all passengers on board wasn’t licensed to drive a commercial vehicle, police said.
Yolanda Latise Boles and the 16 passengers were injured when the shuttle bus collided with a tractor trailer making a legal U-turn on Loop Road near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, police said. The tractor trailer driver was not injured.
Boles and the passengers, including two children, were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and Atlanta Medical Center. The last of the patients were released late Tuesday, Grady officials said.
While College Park police continue the investigation, they released an incident report Thursday, outlining details of the crash that showed Boles – an employee of MTI Limos and Shuttles – did not have a Georgia commercial driver’s license.
According to the Georgia Department of Driver Services, a commercial vehicle capable of carrying 16 or more passengers requires a CDL license with a passenger endorsement.
“There will be charges pending,” College Park Police Sgt. Keith Stanley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It was unclear Thursday whether police would bring charges against Mario Cochran, the tractor trailer driver.
Boles could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Mike Toye, the owner of MTI, declined to comment, deferring to his attorney.
His attorney, John Austin, reached by email, said he is investigating.
“We are looking into this matter,” Austin said.
Cochran told police that he was headed south on Loop Road when he realized he was going in the wrong direction.
He was in the right lane when he made the U-turn at a light, according to police reports.
Cochran told police he didn’t see any vehicles behind him when he started the turn, and was hit mid-way through the turn by the shuttle bus.
Cochran has a valid CDL, according to police.
Stanley said last week that the shuttle bus skidded 158 feet on the 45-mph road before hitting the tail of the rig.
Boles, the only person on the bus wearing a seat belt, had to be extricated from the driver’s seat, police said.
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