Four Fox Lane HS Students Injured in Head-on Crash With School Bus in New Castle
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Four Fox Lane High School students were involved in a serious head-on collision with a Yorktown school bus on Lake Road in New Castle.
Three of the students sustained “life-threatening” injuries, according to police. All four male students, two of whom are 16 years old and the other two 17, remain hospitalized in Westchester Medical Center.
Bedford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Robert Glass said district staff are trying to help the school community cope with the accident.
“Our district’s crisis team has been mobilized and we are working to support the FLHS and BCSD community through this difficult time,” Glass said in a statement.
The driver of the car – a 16-year-old who was not licensed – was operating a 2016 Honda Accord while heading southbound on Lake Road but lost control of the vehicle while rounding a curve, crossing into oncoming traffic, police said. Police have not released the identity of the car owner.
New Castle police are investigating the accident, which occurred around 2:13 p.m. on the winding road between Crow Hill Road and Croton Dam Road, a short distance from the Yorktown border.
There were five people on the bus, two male students, 15 and 17 years old, a 62-year-old woman bus driver and two monitors, a 48-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man. They were all taken to Westchester Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The two students and the driver have been released, police said, while the two monitors remain hospitalized.
By Thursday morning, GoFundMe pages had been established for the three students most critically injured, Erick Fuentes, Jonathan Martinez and Axel Cantor, by family or friends to help with medical expenses. A page was also established for the fourth student, Franklin Jarquin.
In addition, a GoFundMe was created for Yorktown bus monitor Jim Martin.
According to the information provided, the four students were returning to Fox Lane High School from BOCES in Yorktown Heights. Cantor’s GoFundMe page stated that he was in surgery for five hours following the accident and is on a ventilator. He sustained brain and liver hemorrhaging, collapsed lungs and two broken legs.
His GoFundMe page stated that he is hoping to become an auto mechanic.
Martinez suffered from a fractured femur, a ruptured spleen, a brain bleed and some spinal injuries, according to the page. He has also been hooked up to a ventilator.
“He’s just a little boy fighting for his life now,” wrote his sister. “We ask everyone to take in account the other families and ours and please pray for our boys and help out our boys come out of this together.”
Fuentes’s sister Stefanie stated that her younger brother has a broken neck, fractured spine, broken leg and a brain hematoma.
Lake Road was closed to traffic for about five hours, reopening at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, New Castle police said.
There will be updates as more information becomes available.
This story was updated at about 4:35 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 27.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/