Daniel E. Cobb Jr., 68, the operator of Cobb's Bus Service, was killed in the crash, along with seven passengers, all Laotians from the Sacramento area.
Search for answers begins in aftermath of deadly bus accidentA state investigation into the charter bus accident that killed eight people in Colusa County is under way as details begin to emerge about the troubled history of the bus driver and his employer.
The California Highway Patrol has launched a criminal inquiry into the 6:15 p.m. Sunday wreck on Lone Star Road . south of Highway 20 between Williams and Colusa, Stephen Bell, assistant chief for the Northern Division, announced Monday.
The agency also revealed 68-year-old Daniel E. Cobb of Sacramento and Modesto, believed to be the owner of the bus, died in the crash along with seven elderly passengers.
The CHP placed the driver, 52-year-old Quintin Joey Watts of Stockton under arrest on suspicion of felony driving under the influence.
The agency also has begun a criminal investigation into the crash, Bell said during a press conference in Williams.
Watts was injured in the wreck and was being treated at Woodland Memorial Hospital, where he was upgraded from critical to fair condition Monday night.
The Associated Press reported Watts was a longtime truck driver, but had been unable to find a trucking job since being released from jail on a domestic violence charge six months ago, according to his mother, Chaney Mae Watts.
The AP said Chaney Mae Watts said she believed the crash came on her son's first day behind the wheel of the bus after several training trips watching the owner drive. She and her husband told their son they were uncomfortable with him driving a vehicle that carried people instead of cargo.
"He wasn't the best driver," she said. "He knew we didn't want him to drive."
It was not immediately known whether Watts was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or both, Bell said.
Watts has a felony criminal record but has no listed DUI convictions in California, according to records from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
His most recent conviction was June 20, 2007, when he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, but was given credit for 132 days for time served and good behavior. He was paroled Dec. 18.
In 1998, Watts was convicted of possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a destructive device. He was sentenced to two years in state prison and was paroled after serving one.
Watts was convicted of check fraud, credit card theft and distributing phony telecommunication devices in 1996. He was sentenced to more than three years in prison on those charges and was paroled after eight months.
Investigators are struggling to unravel the murky recent history of the bus. The Texas license plates it carried were invalid, and no federal Department of Transportation registration number could be found, according to Officer Bob Kays of the CHP's Williams station.
News of the vehicle's suspect tags conflicted with information from the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees charter transport firms. An agency spokeswoman, Susan Carothers, said late Monday the bus owned by Cobb had a valid license and insurance coverage.
Cobb had been registered with the CPUC as a charter operator since 1974, Carothers said.
Watts had a commercial driver's license in California but lacked state certification required to drive a passenger bus, Bell told reporters at the CHP's Williams bureau.
The bus was painted with the Greyhound livery and the company's name was on the side of the coach, but CHP Sgt. Pat Landreth said the vehicle was sold two years ago to Valley Transit Company. However, a Valley Transit representative said the bus did not belong to the firm.
Later Monday, media reports linked the bus to Cobb and an business named Cobbs Bus Service. Public Utilities Commission records place the business in Modesto, with a Sacramento mailing address.
An online classified ad at Kijiji.com in Cobb's name, dated Thursday, asked for a charter bus driver and promised "all work is within 100 mile radius." The voice-mail box was full at the phone number listed.
Earlier Monday, the CHP released the names of the eight people who died when the bus overturned on Lone Star Road on its way to the Colusa Casino Resort. In addition to Cobb, the victims included five Sacramento women — Lou Her, 68; Muang Saephanh, 68; Khou Yang, 67; Meuay Saelee, 74; and Fin Saechae, 64.
Others who died included Xee Vang, an 85-year-old man believed to be from Sacramento, and 60-year-old Ma Vang, whose hometown and gender are not immediately known.
Initially, 10 passengers were believed to have been killed, but the CHP later revised the number of dead. Colusa County authorities also reported late Sunday that nine had died.
Thirty-five passengers were injured in the crash, forcing emergency workers to take them to hospitals as distant as Oroville, Roseville and Sacramento.
The bus was carrying 42 passengers from Sacramento to Colusa Casino Resort, located on Highway 45 three miles north of Colusa, Landreth said. All the passengers were believed to be from the Sacramento area and all are believed to have been found, according to Bell, who said officers combed the crash site with helicopter-mounted infrared sensors overnight in search of more passengers.
Language barriers are slowing the process of identifying and interviewing survivors, most of whom were said to be of Laotian descent. Twelve of the injured have not yet been identified Monday, Bell said.
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