STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A grand jury has indicted a Staten Island bus driver on additional charges in connection with a deadly multi-vehicle crash in Stafford County, Virginia.
On Monday, a grand jury in Stafford Circuit Court hit Jing Sheng Dong, 48, with three additional felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.
Dong was previously charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the wake of the devastating collision which took place on southbound I-95 early Friday morning.
The bus, operated by E&P Travel, hit a Chevrolet Suburban that was subsequently pushed into an Acura SUV and additional vehicles, according to police.
The Acura, which caught fire, contained four of the five fatalities: Dmitri Doncev, 45; his wife, Ecaterina, 44; their daughter Emily, 13; and their son Mark, 7, all from Greenfield, Massachusetts. Priscilla Mafalda, a 25-year-old woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, was in the Suburban and also killed, authorities said.
Dong is now charged with involuntary manslaughter for each of the deaths. He could face up to 50 years in prison, as each count of involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Previously, Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen said that although the investigation is ongoing, authorities have established that the bus was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck one or more vehicles that were slowing in a work zone. This ultimately caused a chain reaction involving at least eight vehicles.
“Even as the Virginia State Police continues to conduct a complex investigation, I have determined that probable cause presently exists to establish that the driver of the tour bus caused this crash and, at the time of the crash, he was driving in a criminally negligent manner,” Olsen said in a press release issued Saturday.
Following the issuance of the new indictments, the Circuit Court issued a bench warrant ordering Dong’s arrest.
A Virginia State Trooper arrested Dong at the hospital on Monday on the new charges. He is being held without bond on the indictments.
Dong remains hospitalized and is recovering from injuries suffered in the crash.
He is in the custody of the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
Dong was initially charged on warrants for the first two involuntary manslaughter charges on Saturday.
Once released from the hospital, Dong will be transported to the jail pending his initial appearance before the Stafford General District Court and Stafford Circuit Court.