Authorities: Truck driver in deadly wreck had meth in system

Authorities say a truck driver who triggered a deadly wreck when his tractor-trailer struck a school bus and a second vehicle had methamphetamine in his system.

Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Lonny Haschel said Monday that a DPS report shows autopsy results for 49-year-old Bradley Farmer of Bogard, Missouri, indicated the presence of the drug.

Haschel says Farmer’s rig crossed the center line in March about 100 miles northeast of Dallas and struck the bus carrying Mount Pleasant High School track athletes.

The tractor-trailer then struck a car driven 30-year-old Angelica Beard, an assistant track coach.

Both Beard and Farmer were killed. More than a dozen students were injured, as were three coaches.

The collision occurred near the town of Talco as the boys’ and girls’ teams were returning from a meet.