WILLIAMS, Calif. — The 41 Laotian senior citizens who piled onto a bus Sunday for a night of fun at a Colusa County casino entrusted their lives to a bus company whose corporate registration had lapsed, a bus with invalid license plates and identification numbers, and a driver with a record of citations.
Eight passengers, including the owner of the bus, died after the driver lost control of the bus, according to the California Highway Patrol. A witness described the bus as swerving back and forth across a rural road near the town of Williams before flipping and spinning into a muddy drainage ditch beside a rice field.
The bus driver, Quintin J. Watts, 52, of Stockton, was arrested Monday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence. CHP officers said they were investigating whether Watts was under the influence of prescription medication or alcohol – or both – when the bus crashed at 6:10 p.m. Sunday three miles east of Williams and just under 10 miles from the Colusa Casino.
As a special investigation team inspected the crash site, other CHP officials spent much of the day trying to figure out who owned the bus. Although it wore the Greyhound name and paint job, Greyhound said it had sold the bus two years ago and had no association with the operator, whom it could not identify. The bus, which picked up its passengers in Sacramento, had Texas license plates, which were not valid, according to the CHP, and other license numbers displayed on the vehicle were either obscured or invalid, CHP Sgt. Brian Donnelly said.
The CHP identified the owner as Daniel E. Cobb, 68, of Sacramento, one of the eight people who died in the crash. The CHP said the bus was owned by Cobb Transportation, but Cobb also ran buses under the names of Cobbs Bus Service, Beeline Tours and Cobb's Tours, the name listed as a bus provider on the casino's Web site. Cobb's bus service registered with the California secretary of state's office in September 2006, but its registration is listed as invalid because of a bounced check.
The following passengers also were killed in the crash, according to the CHP: Lou Her, 68, of Sacramento; Muang Saephanh, 68, of Sacramento; Khou Yang, 67, of Sacramento; Meuay Saelee, 74, of Sacramento; Fin Saechae, 64, of Sacramento, and Ma Vang, 60, of Sacramento. The identity of one victim has not been released.
Seng Her, who works with Laotian immigrants at Lao Family Community in Sacramento, said three relatives of staff members were killed in the crash and two more were hospitalized in critical condition. He said community members were angry at the casino, which many already disliked for luring members with free rides and vouchers for free food or free play at slots or gaming tables.
Cobb's Tours is one of nine companies listed on the Colusa Casino's Web site as serving the casino – and probably the smallest, making between four and eight trips a month, said Don Kennedy, casino spokesman.
The bus was not scheduled to visit Sunday evening, he said, but noted that such oversights were not uncommon. Bus operators are typically compensated based on the number of visitors they deliver, though some base pay on how much the passengers spend gambling. Casinos give bus riders vouchers for food or gambling money.
Kennedy said the casino does not operate buses or oversee their operations but does require that bus companies have valid insurance policies covering passengers.
"We rely on state agencies to do their part as far as licensing and safety," he said.
Many casino visitors are regulars and become friendly with the staff, he said. And that's saddened employees, who have been offered counseling.
"It's horrific," he said. "There's not much more to say."
Watts was arrested in his hospital bed in Woodland Yolo County, according to the CHP. Donnelly said the arrest was based on Watts' erratic driving, which was witnessed by a Colusa County sheriff's deputy who was driving toward the bus on the rural road and saw it crash. He told the CHP that the driver veered onto the right shoulder of Lone Star Road near the intersection with Abel Road, overcorrected and swerved across the road onto the left shoulder, wobbled back and forth, then veered back to the right side before crashing and rolling over in a ditch, facing in the opposite direction.
Watts has a previous speeding conviction and was involved in a crash two years ago, records show. He has a valid commercial driver's license, according to the CHP and the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Watts was involved in a crash in San Joaquin County on Jan. 13, 2006, according to the DMV, but details were not immediately available.
He has a conviction for failing to wear a seat belt stemming from an enforcement action five days after the earlier crash, records show. He also was convicted of speeding and failures to appear in court as a result of incidents on Dec. 30, 2005, and Feb. 22, 2006, the DMV said.