NC school bus wreck in Mint Hill injures 4

MINT HILL, N.C. -- A North Carolina school bus driver has been charged with driving while impaired after a wreck that sent four students to a hospital. Mint Hill Police Department Lt. John Rowell said Tuesday that 32-year-old Desiree Kelly of Charlotte has been charged with DWI and reckless driving. He said the DWI stems from prescription drugs, not alcohol, and that an officer on the scene noticed that Kelly was having trouble staying awake. Kelly has been taken to the country jail. School system spokeswoman Kathleen Johansen said she has been suspended with pay pending the results of the investigation. The bus was carrying 15 students when it hit a brick mailbox and crashed into a ditch Tuesday morning on its way to Independence High School. Johansen said the students' injuries were not life-threatening. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)