(La Porte, IN) - A man accused of critically injuring a New Prairie High School student in a school bus collision on May 8 was arraigned on the criminal allegations Friday in La Porte Circuit Court.
Shawn Akison, 41, of Romeoville, Illinois is charged with Level 5 felony criminal recklessness.
He appeared on a courtroom monitor from inside the La Porte County Jail while communicating with Judge Julianne Havens on a speaker system.
Currently, Akison is being held on $15,000 bond. He asked the court to lower his bail to 10 percent of the amount.
Havens ordered a background check for her to review and scheduled a hearing for May 30 to decide whether to grant his request.
The court also gave him additional time to decide whether he can afford to hire private legal counsel instead of accepting a court appointed public defender.
“It just depends on my financial situation,” he said.
Akison was scheduled for trial beginning October 14 if the case is not resolved through a plea agreement.
Daisy King was in the courtroom with her son, Lucas Halderman, 15, who was one of the students involved in the collision.
Halderman was on the same bus as Lucas Bradshaw, 16, who remained in the intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital in South Bend with a head injury.
King, who was the only parent at the hearing, said her son suffered only minor bruises and scrapes but she attended the hearing out of curiosity and for peace of mind.
Despite her son coming out practically unscathed, King said it’s still been a “super emotional” time for her since the accident, knowing how things could have been much different.
Immediately after the crash, King said she went to the scene and saw the wreckage.
“It was hard to sleep at night. It shook me,” she said.
There were seven members of the junior varsity baseball team and two coaches on two minis buses traveling to a game in Hobart that were hurt in the crash on U.S. 20 at Fail Road north of La Porte.
Except for Bradshaw, everyone taken to hospitals has since been released, including volunteer coach and school board member Rich Shail, who returned home Wednesday evening.
His wife, Nancy, said he is wearing a back brace to stabilize a broken vertebrae so, hopefully, it can heal without having surgery. She said her husband, who also suffered broken ribs along with lacerations and bruises, is also using a walker.
”We’re hopeful he will start to gain strength back day by day,” she said.
Authorities said Akison was driving a box truck recklessly when he fled from a St. Joseph County Police officer, who terminated the pursuit just minutes before the crash.
La Porte County Police have not released exactly how the crash unfolded or the results of a blood test given to Akison due to the investigation still being ongoing.
Mrs. Shail said her husband was on the same bus as Bradshaw that was stopped at a red light when struck in the rear by the box truck and pushed forward into the lead bus.
