LOWELL — A trial date has been set after prosecutors balked at a plea deal with a former school-bus driver for special-needs students who was allegedly driving drunk, more than three times the legal limit, when he crashed into another special-needs school bus last June.
Erik Paulik, 37, of 170 Amherst St., Apt. 21, Manchester, N.H., was ready to plead guilty Monday in Lowell District Court to charges in connection with the June 19 incident.
But attorney Rachael Perlman said there were a number of victims in the case that she needs to contact before a deal is accepted.
To move the case forward, Judge Thomas Brennan set a Dec. 17 date, when Paulik will go to trial on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol, child endangerment while driving drunk and failure to slow.
Police allege Paulik was driving a small school bus with several special-needs students from the Lighthouse School in Chelmsford at 2:47 p.m. when he rear-ended a school minivan, also carrying special-needs students from the Lighthouse School, at the intersection of Middlesex and Westford roads in Tyngsboro.
The crash caused rear-end damage and broke a rear window on the minivan, showering broken glass onto some students in the minivan.
There were no serious injuries reported.
Paulik seemed confused and kept telling police the accident was his fault and he emitted a strong odor of alcohol, prosecutors said. Paulik registered a .27 on a portable Breathalyzer test, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08, and failed field-sobriety tests, she said. He refused to submit to the Breathalyzer at the police station, she said.
The driver of the school minivan told police the school bus had been tailgating her.
While one of the two adult bus monitors riding with Paulik was sleeping, the other told police Paulik had been driving along the highway from Manchester at speeds of 90 mph to 100 mph, according to court documents.
The trip from Manchester to Massachusetts normally takes 30 minutes or more, but that day Paulik made the trip in 18 minutes.
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