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Bus Driver in I-89 Crash Pleads Not Guilty

Barre, Vermont - October 29, 2009

A bus driver who police say caused a massive pile up on Interstate 89 pled not guilty.

74-year-old Deane Harrington, of Roxbury, was arraigned on one misdemeanor count of negligent operation.

Police say in May he fell asleep while driving a Green Mountain Transit Agency bus. The bus plowed through several cars before stopping in the median. No one was seriously hurt.

Harrington pled not guilty, and claimed in the affidavit that he was hit by another vehicle before the crash.

But investigators found no evidence to support that claim, and that's why the state's attorney said charges were necessary.

"It was a very serious result, negligent operation, and I think there should be a record of that event, a criminal record. I think there was inattention that may have been the result of falling asleep," said Washington County Prosecutor Tom Kelly.

Deane Harrington's license was not suspended, but he was suspended from driving by the Green Mountain Transit Agency.