Bus Headed For New York City Crashes Near Syracuse; Driver And 26 Passengers Hurt

NEDROW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A driver and 26 passengers were recovering from injuries Thursday evening, following a crash outside Syracuse involving bus that had been headed to New York.

The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office said the Pine Hill Trailways tour bus originated in Toronto and had been scheduled to arrive in New York City at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

But around 2:30 a.m., the bus crashed into a car that was sitting in the middle of the road on Interstate 81 near Nedrow, after hitting a guard rail.

The bus then struck a semi-trailer truck that was parked on the shoulder, the sheriff's office said.

Twenty-six of the 52 passengers were also hospitalized in the crash, the sheriff's office said. The driver – Kelvin Sharpe Sr. of Buffalo – was hospitalized in critical, but stable, condition.

They were taken to Upstate University Hospital, Crouse Hospital, and St. Joseph's Hospital – all in Syracuse.

"One little girl – she was actually laying in the aisle, and so we had to make sure she was OK," said bus passenger Denicia Baker. "A couple of passengers were thrown of the their seat. One of my friends -- she was actually sitting right behind the bus driver, so she saw everything. She had glass in her hair and in her face."

The driver of the disabled car -- Robert Lee Tarbell, 36 – had gotten out of his car before the bus crashed into it, according to the sheriff's office.

He was charged with second-degree vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated, and changing lanes unsafely, after he left his car in the middle of Interstate 81, the publication reported.

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