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Amputee on pain meds hits Kanawha school bus

Charleston Daily Mail photo by Samuel Speciale Charles Buckland, Jr. was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court Tuesday after crashing a Lincoln Town Car into a school bus earlier in the afternoon in upper Kanawha County. At the time of the crash, Buckland was allegedly under the influence of three different prescription medications. Buckland, a double amputee missing both legs, controlled the gas and brake pedals with a cane. No injuries were reported, but several parents said they would take their children to the hospital to be checked.
Charleston Daily Mail photo by Samuel Speciale
Charles Buckland, Jr. was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court Tuesday after crashing a Lincoln Town Car into a school bus earlier in the afternoon in upper Kanawha County. At the time of the crash, Buckland was allegedly under the influence of three different prescription medications. Buckland, a double amputee missing both legs, controlled the gas and brake pedals with a cane. No injuries were reported, but several parents said they would take their children to the hospital to be checked.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A double-amputee who was allegedly driving under the influence on a suspended license rear-ended a Kanawha County school bus with several students on board Tuesday afternoon.

Charles Buckland Jr., 46, of East Bank, is missing both legs and was using a cane to work the brake and gas pedals in a Lincoln Town Car, State Police Sgt. Larry O’Bryan said. The crash occurred at about 2:30 p.m. on Paint Creek Road at Middle Patch Road.

The bus had stopped to let students off when the crash occurred.

Kanawha County Metro 911 initially reported there were injuries, but dispatchers later said there were none. No injuries were reported at press time, but dispatchers said a person was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center’s General Hospital. They could not confirm if it was one of the drivers or a student.

Several parents planned to take their children to the hospital to be checked out after the crash, O’Bryan said.

 Buckland’s eyes were drooping and his speech was slow and slurred while he spoke to troopers after the crash, O’Bryan said. Buckland told troopers he didn’t realize the bus was stopping.

He told troopers at the scene that he took a 30-milligram OxyContin pill and a Klonopin at 11 a.m., and then took an oxymorphone pill at 1 p.m.. but later, at his arraignment, he asked police to tell him what pills he took…

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