Charges have been filed against the driver of a bus that crashed earlier this year in Livingston County.

Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt announced today that his office has filed charges arising out of the crash of a charter bus returning from a Hartland school field trip on April 27th in Howell Township. A 27-year-old Taylor woman was charged with three counts of Moving Violation Causing Serious Injury, misdemeanors punishable by up to 93 days in jail. The case was investigated by the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office. The defendant, whom Vailliencourt did not name, will be arraigned on a date to be scheduled by the 53rd District Court.

However, a lawsuit filed earlier this month from one of the chaperones on the trip names the driver as Brianne Pope. It was filed by Holly Shuart of Highland against both Pope and the bus company, Ground Travel Specialist, seeking damages in excess of $25,000. Shuart claims Pope was negligent and careless when driving the bus before it overturned on the freeway off-ramp from eastbound I-96 onto M-59. Some of the injuries sustained by passengers included a broken neck, broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Vailliencourt said that the criminal charges filed by his office are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. (JK)