Second Man Charged In Sky Express Bus Crash Waives Extradition
RICHMOND, VA (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A North Carolina dispatcher will be brought to Virginia to face charges stemming from a bus wreck that killed four passengers.
Federal authorities arrested 40-year-old Zhao Jian Chen of Greensboro, NC, on Feb. 17. He is charged in Caroline County, VA, with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Chen waived extradition on Thursday.
Caroline County Commonwealth's Attorney Tony Spencer says Chen told Sky Express bus driver Kin Yiu Cheung to continue driving after Cheung told him he was too tired to drive.
Cheung, who is from Flushing, Queens, was driving the bus to Chinatown from North Carolina when it swerved off the road and overturned on I-95 in Virginia on May 31, 2011.
Killed were 46-year-old Karen Blyden-Decastro of Cambria Heights, NY, 63-year-old Sie Giok Giang of Philadelphia, 78-year-old Josefa Torres of Jamaica, NY and 25-year-old Denny Estefany Martinez of Jersey City, NJ.
Fifty-four others were injured.
Court records show Cheung admitted to police that he fell asleep at the wheel. His attorneys have called the crash a "terrible accident and a tragedy."
After the crash, the U.S. Department of Transportation shut down North Carolina-based Sky Express for multiple safety violations.
Cheung is charged with four felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces up to 10 years in prison for each count if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
His trial is set to begin March 7.
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