Police investigate school bus crash

As rescuers worked to free Piters Calixte from his mangled school bus in Amityville Monday morning, the pinned driver could only communicate with hand signals because his jaw was broken.

Calixte was driving an empty bus on Sunrise Highway, headed to pick up students in Massapequa, when he plowed into an oil tanker at about 6:45 a.m., Suffolk County police said.

"When things were going OK, he gave us a thumbs up," North Amityville fire chief Vince McLeod said of the successful 40-minute rescue operation. "If he was in pain, he'd show thumbs down."

Calixte, 56, of Westbury, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center in critical condition. The driver of the tanker, carrying 5,700 gallons of used oil, was not injured, police said, and none of the oil leaked onto the roadway.

Gabino Villegas, 48, of Elizabeth, N.J., driving a 2001 Peterbilt tanker owned by Terrace Transport of Staten Island, had just loaded waste oil from Planet Earth Recycling in Amityville and was making a right turn from the plant's lot onto westbound Sunrise, just east of Route 110, when Calixte's bus struck the middle of the tank.

"We heard it," Roger Adler, owner of Planet Earth Recycling, said of the crash. Villegas "was pulling out, and I just called 911 right away."

McLeod said firefighters and rescue personnel, including those from the Amityville and Copiague fire departments, first removed about five rows of seats behind Calixte, then used hydraulic cutters and spreaders to free him.

McLeod said Calixte was alert the whole time, and his vital signs were good.

"He got pinned really good," McLeod said. "I'm surprised he wasn't hurt more than he was."

Calixte has driven for Educational Bus Transportation in Copiague for about six years, company vice president Tim Flood said. Flood called Calixte "a good employee."

"Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family," said Flood, adding that a company representative was with Calixte's family at the hospital and that his wife was able to see him before surgery.

Suffolk County's motor carrier safety section and the New York State Department of Transportation will inspect both vehicles, police said.

Suffolk police are investigating. Anyone with information on the crash can call the First Squad, 631-854-8152.