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Driver Of Doomed Bronx Bus Was Convicted Killer


The driver of the doomed Chinatown casino bus is a convicted killer who had two licenses — including one he got using an alias.

Ex-con Ophadell Williams is set to be grilled today by probers, who already doubt his tale that he was clipped by a tractor trailer, officials said.

News of the expected showdown among Williams, the National Transportation Safety Board and State Police came as the crash claimed its 15th victim: a 70-year-old man who died from injuries suffered in the horrific smash-up on I-95 in The Bronx.

Gov. Cuomo yesterday ordered the state inspector general to investigate how Williams — who has convictions for manslaughter and grand larceny in addition to a slew of traffic violations — wound up getting a valid commercial-driving license.

In 1995, he was busted once for speeding and twice for driving without a license — all within eight days, sources said. He gave the cops an alias, Erik Williams, at the time.

His license was then suspended because he failed to respond to the charges.

In addition, Williams was busted in 2003 — again for driving without a license.

Nine men and six women were killed early Saturday when the World Wide Tours bus that Williams was driving toppled on the highway and slid into a steel sign stanchion, nearly shearing the vehicle in half. He was ferrying gamblers back to Chinatown from the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut at the time.

Investigators are scrutinizing surveillance video from the casino to see how Williams, 40, spent several hours before departing with his 32 passengers early Saturday morning.

There was a surveillance camera aboard the bus, but it wasn’t turned on, source said.

“We want to know what he ate, what he drank, how much he slept, everything we can find out,” said NTSB Vice Chairman Christopher Hart.

Witnesses and passengers had reported that Williams — who later passed a Breathalyzer test — swerved onto the highway’s shoulder several times, possibly after nodding off. He claims he was clipped by a truck before the crash occurred.

But “there does not seem to be any evidence of a truck hitting the bus,” Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.

Investigators also are looking into why Williams apparently hadn’t updated his log book, in which he’s required to record all of his trips, for several days before the crash.

Meanwhile, details of Williams’s sordid criminal past came to light.

In 1990, he knifed a man to death during an argument and served two years behind bars.

Four years later, he was busted for cashing a purloined check from the Police Athletic League worth $83,905 and served six more years in prison.

His most recent driving bust — for not having his license — occurred June 4, 2003, while he was still on parole for the PAL scam.

Williams was released from St. Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx on Sunday evening after being treated for a neck injury.

World Wide Tours did not return a call for comment.

A family friend of Williams, Derrick Brown, 29, said yesterday that the driver “is feeling very depressed . . . I saw the tears in his eyes.

(Source: NY Post)



9 Responses

  1. Based on the tone of this article, they would expect this guy to sit on his yeah all day because of his manslaughter charge years ago.

  2. No. 1: Do I understand your comment to mean that if the bus driver in this story did his crimes and served his time many years ago, he is entitled to earn a living if he is otherwise duly qualified for his job? If so, I agree with you. Did someone slip some liberal socialist communist left-wing drugs into your morning coffee?

    Could you clarify this for me: Is “yeah” a piece of furniture?

    One other thing: Can you blame a guy named “Ophadell” for giving his first name as “Erik”? I think that is a valid legal defense to the charge of giving a false name to the police. “Ophadell” sounds like the brand name of a personal computer given away on a daytime TV talk show by a likable host or hostess.

  3. I have a CDL and spent some years driving tractor trailers; I know of nothing that should have prevented this fellow from getting a CDL. A trucking company may well not want to hire him because of his purloined check…truckers have access to valuable cargo and sometimes to checks and cash…but I don’t know if bus operators would have the same concern.

    And straightshooter – What precisely is your point? The next time one of our own gets charged with a significant white collar crime…are going to say welcome to America, or welcome to Deal/Lakewood/Flatbush or wherever?

  4. The biggest issue here is that we are hearing he was driving with a suspended license. If that’s true his goose is cooked as is his company’s.

  5. Mark Levin – A driver must submit copies of his/her license and medical card to the carrier, but they are under no obligation to moniter or otherwise check into its bonadides. As a matter of insurance requirements they may run a credit check and a routine criminal background inquiry when a driver is hired…but if a license is suspended the driver is required to inform his employer…that’s it

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