Investigators have identified an Ohio couple who died Saturday when they pulled in front of a charter bus near Monroeville.
Stanley G. Hines was driving with his wife, Mary H. Hines, both 77 and from Greenville, Ohio, when they died at the scene from blunt-force trauma from the accident, the Allen County Coroner’s Office said Monday in a statement. Both were wearing seat belts.
Cpl. Jeremy Tinkel of the Allen County Sheriff’s Department said the bus was headed west on Dawkins Road about 10:20 p.m. when Stanley Hines ran a stop sign while driving south on Indiana 101.
Three motorists in the area told the sheriff’s department they saw Hines run the stop sign at high speed. Tinkel said the vehicle’s engine compartment became engulfed in flames, and the bus ended up in a cornfield.
A completed accident report from the sheriff’s department won’t be available for two or three days, Tinkel said.
Two people on the Star of America charter bus suffered minor injuries but were treated at the scene, Tinkel said.
Star of America is a charter bus company in Jeffersonville that also has facilities in Fort Wayne, Bloomington, Indianapolis and Muncie. The company did not return phone calls from The Journal Gazette on Monday.
Star of America has buses that can carry up to 55 passengers, but it is unknown the size of the bus involved in Saturday’s accident.
Buses in the fleet were involved in four other accidents in the last two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The deaths were the 20th and 21st traffic fatalities in Fort Wayne and Allen County this year. The crash is still under investigation by the coroner’s office and sheriff’s department.
