SUFFOLK
A Suffolk man has been arrested in connection with the hit-and-run accident involving a Franklin City School Bus on Thursday morning.

Travis Devone Copeland, 30, was arrested that evening following an extensive investigation by Suffolk Police. In addition to hit-and-run personal injury, reckless driving and driving while suspended, Copeland was also charged with grand larceny as the vehicle he was driving was stolen.

He is being held without bond at Western Tidewater Regional Jail.

The accident happened at 6:41 a.m. in the 2200 block of East Washington Street. The head-on collision involved the bus and a gray, four-door Nissan, whose driver fled on foot immediately following the accident.

Nine students were on board the bus at the time. They were being taken to the SECEP program at John F. Kennedy Middle School. None of the students were injured, but the female bus driver was taken to Sentara Obici Hospital for treatment of injuries that were later considered not life-threatening.

Franklin City Public Schools Director of Organizational Accountability and Performance Management Kelvin Edwards said the bus monitor was also transported to the hospital for treatment. Both were treated for minor injuries and released.

Edwards also said the children made it to the school for their SECEP classes, as a Suffolk City Schools bus came and picked them up. Another Franklin City bus returned the special education students, who range from elementary to high-school age, home as normal.

The bus was transported to a garage in Suffolk where it is receiving repairs.