Man makes first court appearance for passing school bus on right

WILLMAR - The Apple Valley truck driver who allegedly frightened a 13-year-old girl by passing a school bus on the right - and nearly missing the teenager while she was waiting to board the school bus - made his first appearance on misdemeanor charges Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court.
Allen Howard Morris, 48, faces charges of disobeying a school bus stop arm and lights and illegally passing a school bus on the right. The charges were filed in August. An omnibus hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 27.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, he was driving a tractor-trailer rig on May 30 on state Highway 23 near 175th Street Northeast while Alexis Schwartz was waiting on her family’s driveway to board a school bus for seventh-grade classes in the Paynesville Area Schools.
Images taken from a camera attached to the school bus show a tractor and trailer rig passing the bus at a high rate of speed on the right side.
Morris contacted the State Patrol later that day, and is alleged to have told the officer in a subsequent interview that he was looking at a field as he was driving.He looked up, saw the bus and realized he could not stop in time.
He was on his way from Barron, Wis., to Willmar at the time of the incident. The girl and her family live north of Hawick.
Morris could face up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine for each offense.