Prosecutors: Driver In Fatal Indiana Crash In July Was On Cocaine
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Gary man who crashed a church bus in central Indiana in July, killing a 6-year-old boy, allegedly was using cocaine at the time.
Hancock County prosecutors said blood results from the day of the crash showed 53-year-old Charles Goodman was under the influence of cocaine. Prosecutors have added a new charge of operating while intoxicated, causing death.
Goodman already had been charged with reckless homicide and driving on a suspended license.
The bus was heading east out of Indianapolis on Interstate 70, leading a convoy of eight cars from the St. Jude Family Worship Center in Gary, Indiana, when the bus hit a tree, overturned, and caught fire.
Six-year-old Jacob Williams was thrown from the bus and killed. Eleven other passengers were injured.
Goodman allegedly told police he fell asleep behind the wheel. A passenger said something was off with him, and thought he might have been under the influence of drugs.
Court records showed, before the crash, Goodman had been arrested nearly once a year for 20 years, on charges of driving on a suspended license, or without any license.
In Cook County, between 1996 and 2015, Goodman was charged 12 times with driving without a license or driving on a suspended license.
In Lake County, Indiana, between 1998 and 2009, five more charges for the same offense.
