Warrant: Bus Driver in Evans City Train Crash was Carrying Pills That Did Not Match Label

Results from a search warrant executed by Evans City Police show the driver of the Butler Area Rural Transit bus that was hit by a train in Evans City was carrying pills at the time of the crash that did not match the label of the bottle they were contained in.

Frank Schaffner’s lawyer told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the pills were fiber supplements and TUMS, not prescription pills that would affect his client’s driving.

““It's my understanding that his toxicology results should come back clean,” Butler-based attorney Michael Pawk told the newspaper.

Toxicology reports on Schaffner’s blood are still pending.

Schaffner was driving a bus carrying 10 elderly and mentally challenged people on a foggy April 26 morning when he stopped for an unknown reason on the tracks at the Maple Avenue intersection while a train was approaching, Evans City Police Chief Joe McCombs said.

Crossing gates and warning lights do not guard the tracks

The freight train blew its horn before striking the bus broadside, spinning it around, McCombs said.

and 10 others, including Schaffner, were injured. Miller was one of two people taken by medical helicopter to hospitals in Pittsburgh. The rest were taken by ambulance to area hospitals for treatment.

McCombs said police continue to investigate the crash. He expects to release a statement with an update on the investigation by early next week.

Schaffner, who was treated and released from Butler Memorial Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, has not talked to investigators, the Trib reports.

McCombs told Cranberry Patch Thursday that no charges have been filed in the crash.

Since last week, the chief said he has been meeting with various authorities in the incident, including the railroad company.

“We are not going to release any information at this point,” he said.  

Rob Kulat, a spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration in Washington, D.C, told the Trib that the train was traveling at about 25 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad owns the tracks.

Russell Peterson, a spokesman for the train company Carload Express, Inc., said the train was headed from Evans City to Pittsburgh. Fourteen of the 29 cars the engine was carrying were empty. The other cars were carrying general freight.

Pawk told the Tribune-Review that Schaffner, a Butler resident, informed him he had stopped the bus before coming to the tracks and was slowly crossing them when the train hit. Pawk added he is not allowing Schaffner, 59, to talk with media.

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