A Mineola truck driver has been charged with vehicular homicide and manslaughter and other felonies in the death of a school bus driver in Matinecock last summer.
An grand jury indictment charges that Raymond Ragen, 44, of Mineola, drove a truck that crashed into an overpass and a school bus on a Matinecock road last summer, killing the bus driver, seriously injuring an attendant, and injuring four children, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.
Ragen was charged with multiple felonies after an investigation revealed that he was high on prescription drugs at the time of the crash, the district attorney’s office said.
The charges against Ragen include aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, aggravated vehicular assault, vehicular assault in the first degree, two counts of assault in the second degree, three counts of assault in the third degree, driving while impaired by drugs, reckless driving, reckless endangerment in the second degree, unlicensed operation of a vehicle, two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, and driving while talking on a cell phone.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that at approximately 3:15 p.m. on July 23, 2012, Ragen was driving a 13-foot, 3-inch high cement truck weighing nearly 40,000 pounds eastbound on Oyster Bay Road in Matinecock when he crashed into a 10-foot, 1-inch high Long Island Railroad overpass.
The force of the crash sent the cement truck careening into oncoming traffic where it crashed head-on with a miniature school bus carrying special-needs children home from summer camp, according to the DA’s office.
The DA’s office reports the school bus driver, Jorge Guevara, 45, of Locust Valley, sustained extensive internal injuries and had one of his legs nearly amputated. He was alive for approximately 30 minutes inside the bus while emergency responders attempted to sustain and revive him. Guevara died from his injuries while still pinned inside the bus.
A 64-year-old man serving as a bus attendant suffered multiple fractures, including a broken and dislocated hip that required two surgeries and a fractured wrist. Metal hardware was inserted into his hips and knees, he requires the use of a wheelchair, and can only walk gingerly with the aid of a cane.
The four children on the bus were all between the ages of six and nine. Three suffered minor injuries, but the fourth suffered a fractured jaw and lacerations on his face and body and has permanent facial scarring and a detached lip.
A subsequent investigation by the DA’s Office, Nassau County Police Department, and Drug Enforcement Agency, revealed that Ragen was high on Valium at the time of the crash, according tot he DA’s office.
GPS data from the cement truck revealed that Ragen was uniquely aware that his truck would not fit beneath the overpass because he had driven up to the bridge a few hours earlier and been forced to perform a U-turn, the DA’s office said
“The incredible violence and pain inflicted upon Mr. Guevara cannot be overstated, nor can the physical and emotional trauma suffered by the other five bus passengers,” Rice said. “We must continue to hold people like Raymond Ragen accountable for the danger they pose and the irreparable damage they cause when they get high and then get behind the wheel.”
Ragen was arraigned in 1st District Court in Hempstead on Jan. 23 by Judge Tammy Robbins who set bail at $750,000 cash. He is due back in court February 20.
