Video Shows I-80 Bus Crash That Killed Paramus Student, Teacher

MOUNT OLIVE, NJ — Video footage has been released showing the I-80 bus crash that left one student and one teacher dead, and seriously injured dozens of others, in response to lawsuit filed by several New Jersey media outlets.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation footage, which was released by the state Attorney General's office, shows the bus, driven by Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, of Jersey City, as he prepares to merge onto I-80 West from Route 206. Suddenly, the bus cuts across several lanes of traffic before being T-boned by a dump truck traveling in the center lane. The body of the bus is ripped from the chassis and sent flying into the center median.

The video is taken from several hundred yards away and is blurry. You can watch it here – the crash is on the right side of the highway, about 42 seconds in:

Muldrow was driving the bus, which was packed with students and teachers from the East Brook Middle School in Paramus as they made the trip to Waterloo Village in Stanhope. Every person on the bus was injured and taken to a hospital.

Although described by media outlets and county officials before, this is the first time video footage of the crash has been made public. Several media outlets, including Patch, filed Open Public Records requests for the videos in June, but the requests were denied, citing the emotional harm it would cause the families. Several outlets, including USA Today Network and News 12 New Jersey, sued the state to obtain a copy of the footage, a judge ruled in the newspapers favor on Friday. Patch obtained a copy of the video from NJ DOT Friday night.

Muldrow faces two counts of death by auto in relation to the crash, which killed Miranda Vargas, 10, and Jennifer Williamson Kennedy, 51. He was released from jail two on May 30 on the condition he surrender his driver's license and have no contact with the living victims, or the families of any victims, as the charges against him are pending. It is unclear if he has been suspended or fired from his job with the Paramus Board of Education, but the terms of his release would make returning to work impossible regardless.

According to court documents, Muldrow is accused of cutting across the highway in order to reach an official use only cut-through point in the center median to get on I-80 East. The caravan of three buses Muldrow was driving in got lost on their way to the Village; all three attempted to course correct in a different way, and the other two buses safely arrived at the destination.

Muldrow's attorney, Matthew Reisig, has said Muldrow was innocent and has no memory of the crash. Muldrow told Reisig he remembers pulling onto Route 80, hearing a horn blare and pulling over to the shoulder, but nothing else.

Muldrow has a long history of driving troubles, including 14 license suspensions, eight speeding tickets, and a careless driving ticket. His commercial driver's license was suspended nine times between 1977 and 2018, including during the school's winter break from Dec. 20, 2017 to Jan. 3, 2018.

The Paramus Superintendent Michele Robinson has defended the district's hiring and retention of Muldrow, saying they were unaware of his driving record. He was employed by the district for 34 years, officials said in court.

"I have consistently said that nothing provided to the district by the state reflected that the driver had any moving violations. The information we were provided was that Mr. Muldrow's license was suspended for a period of time during the winter recess when schools were closed. During that time, Mr. Muldrow submitted his updated medical information to the Motor Vehicle Commission. The state subsequently informed us that Mr. Muldrow was a driver in good standing and eligible to operate a school bus. He was not suspended because of moving violations," Robinson said in a statement last week.

The family of Miranda Vargas filed a tort claim notice shortly after the crash against the Paramus Board of Education, which will allow her family to officially sue the district six months after the filing.

"Based on what is known, since the Paramus Board of Education apparently employed Mr. Muldrow, they are likely vicariously liable for his negligent operation of the school bus," the Vargas family attorney, David Fried said. "Further, we will investigate and pursue claims regarding their decision to employ Mr. Muldrow as a school bus driver, based on available information about his driving record."

Willie Clark, an elder at Mt. Zion Fire Baptized Holiness Church in Jersey City where Muldrow is a member, said outside of the Morris County Courthouse on May 25 that the charges came as a surprise to Muldrow, who was also injured in the crash.

"He was under the impression he didn't do anything wrong," Clark said, later adding, "I don't know what the law says, but I know he wouldn't have had this happen for anything in the world. But, no. I don't think he should go to jail."

If convicted on the current charges against him, Muldrow faces 20 years in prison. Those charges are subject to the No Early Release Act, meaning Muldrow would have to serve 80 percent, or 17 years, of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano said they anticipate charging Muldrow with additional crimes in relation to the dozens of non-fatal injuries passengers sustained; those charges have not yet been filed.

With reporting by Daniel Hubbard

Image: Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal Paramus school bus crash on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive Thursday morning. (By Avi Gibli, used with permission)