New Salem man faces charges after striking school bus in Barre

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday morning. One of those students was taken to Heywood Hospital as a precaution, but there were no injuries.

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday morning. One of those students was taken to Heywood Hospital as a precaution, but there were no injuries. COURTESY PHOTO/BARRE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday morning. The collision caused the school bus to lose control and strike a guardrail and some trees.

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday morning. The collision caused the school bus to lose control and strike a guardrail and some trees. COURTESY PHOTO/BARRE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the white Dodge Durango he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday.

Cedric Cooley, 32, of New Salem, faces charges in East Brookfield District Court after allegedly swerving the white Dodge Durango he was driving over the center line on Route 122 in Barre and colliding with a school bus filled with 52 students on Thursday. COURTESY PHOTO/BARRE POLICE DEPARTMENT

By DOMENIC POLI

Staff Writer

Published: 03-28-2024 5:10 PM

BARRE — A New Salem man faces charges after allegedly swerving the vehicle he was driving over the center line on Route 122 and colliding with a school bus filled with students on Thursday.

Cedric Cooley, 32, was arrested after the collision and arraigned in East Brookfield District Court on single counts of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper, reckless endangerment of a child and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license (subsequent offense).

The collision at approximately 7:15 a.m. caused the school bus to lose control and strike a guardrail and some trees. According to Barre Police Sgt. Russel Davidson, there were no injuries, but one of the 52 Quabbin Regional Middle High School students on board was taken to Heywood Hospital as a precaution. Davidson said Cooley, who recently moved to New Salem from Orange, was traveling northbound on West Street in a white Dodge Durango.

According to Davidson, the bus is owned by J.P. McCarthy & Sons LLC. Attempts to reach the Brookfield company were unsuccessful on Thursday.

The Quabbin Regional School District, which serves Barre, Hardwick, Hubbardston and New Braintree, took to Facebook late Thursday morning to inform the community of the crash. The post states the collision involved an Athol/Templeton/Petersham School Choice bus. The post also praises the first responders as well as the students, school administrators, nurses, counselors and staffers for the way they handled the situation.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.