HOLLISTER, N.C. (WNCN) — A man has been charged after a 10th-grade student was struck Wednesday by a vehicle after getting off a school bus.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol was called around 3:45 p.m. to the incident on N.C .561 in Halifax County, according to First Sgt. Chris Knox.
A 2022 Tesla Model Y was traveling west on that highway when the driver failed to stop for a stopped school bus, the highway patrol said. The car hit a student who had exited the school bus and was walking across the roadway, Knox said.
The Associated Press identified the student as 17-year-old Tillman Mitchell, a student at the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Hollister.
Troopers said the school bus’s warning signs and lights were working and being used at the time of the collision.
The student was flown to WakeMed with life-threatening injuries. According to hospital spokesperson Kristin Kelly, Mitchell was listed in good condition Friday morning.
Dr. Howard Gene Yee, 51, was driving the Tesla. Knox said the cause was due to distracted driving.
According to the Associated Press, Yee is a dentist from Roanoke Rapids.
Yee was charged with passing stop school bus striking a person and reckless driving. He was taken to the Halifax County Jail and received a $25,000 secured bond.
