Good Samaritan helps police capture school bus hit-and-run suspect

ALTON – A man who was allegedly intoxicated is accused of causing an accident involving a school bus this morning – and he was stopped with help from a Good Samaritan.

The man who police have not yet identified is known only as a 35-year-old from Bethalto. Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons said the man struck a small white vehicle in his gray four-by-four, around 7:05 a.m. Tuesday causing that vehicle to collide with a school bus near Sam's Pawn Shop in the 200 block of East Broadway in Alton. Simmons said no children were on the school bus at the time of the incident, adding there were no injuries resulting from that crash.

A witness to the accident who was not involved saw the driver of the gray four-by-four attempt the flee the scene and gave chase, continuing to update the 911 dispatcher as they followed the man westbound on the Great River Road, all the way to Clifton Country Inn on West Delmar at the intersection of Clifton Terrace.

Simmons said the man was then arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, fleeing the scene of an accident resulting in property damage and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Simmons said he could not comment how intoxicated the man was, but said the witness who tailed the suspect reported erratic driving all the way from Alton to Clifton Terrace on the River Road.

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