Cops: DWI charges for man who crashes with school bus

A Yaphank man fled after a crash into a school bus full of young children Thursday, police said, but was arrested a short time later in Brookhaven and charged with driving while intoxicated.

No one was injured in the accident, Suffolk police said.

Warren Lukas, 56, of 30 Quaker Path, is to be arraigned Friday in First District Court, Central Islip, on the DWI charge and on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, Suffolk police said.

Lukas was driving a 1996 Ford pickup eastbound on South Country Road at 3:35 p.m., police said, when he sideswiped the school bus, which was stopped and preparing to make a left turn onto Montauk Highway. In addition to the driver, there were 55 passengers on the bus - children 5 to 9 years old, police said.

A witness followed the truck when it left the crash scene, police said, and called 911 with its location on Bellhaven Road in Brookhaven. Responding officers took Lukas into custody, police said.