Driver in 2022 Cole County bus crash pleads guilty, sentenced to probation
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A bus driver who allegedly fell asleep at the wheel and crashed a bus filled with children in Cole County last year pleaded guilty last week.
Thomas Babbit, 64, of Boonville, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, July 25, to operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner and driving a commercial motor vehicle without a seatbelt.
He was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, must complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $500 fine. A case review is scheduled for July 24, 2024, at the Cole County Circuit Court.
Babbitt was driving a charter bus owned by White Knight Limousine when it crashed on July 14, 2022, according to previous reporting. He fell asleep at the wheel right after 2:30 a.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported. The bus veered off of the side of Highway 54 in Cole County and hit a shed, a house and a fence.
Six adults and 22 children from the Immanuel Lutheran School in Honey Creek were riding back from the National Youth Gathering in Houston, Texas, when the bus crashed.
