Truck driver in deadly Florida bus crash told authorities he smoked marijuana oil the night before, arrest report says

The man accused of killing at least eight people in a bus crash on a Florida highway told investigators he smoked marijuana oil the night before and was in another accident three days earlier, according to an arrest report. Bryan Maclean Howard has been charged with eight counts of driving under the influence manslaughter after authorities say his pickup truck hit a bus and sent it off the road early Tuesday morning.

The former school bus and the truck were going in opposite directions when the truck moved toward the center line, the highway patrol said. About 40 other people were injured when the bus overturned and struck two fences on the outskirts of the central Florida city of Dunnellon, according to the highway patrol. Some victims suffered serious injuries, and several were listed in critical condition at a hospital Tuesday.

According to an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol, Howard told an investigator he was hanging out with a friend who had a medical marijuana card Monday night and smoked marijuana oil with him. Before Howard went to bed, he said he also took some prescription medications.

On Tuesday, Howard left his parents’ house at around 6:30 a.m. to drive to a methadone clinic in Ocala, Florida, for treatment of a chipped vertebrae in his back, according to the arrest report.

Howard said he was driving carefully because he crashed his mother’s car into a tree three days earlier while trying to avoid an animal that ran in front of him, according to the report.

Howard’s eyes were bloodshot and watery during the interview with the highway patrol and his speech was thick and slurred, according to the report. After Howard was arrested Tuesday afternoon, a breath test found he had a blood alcohol level of 0.000%.

A judge ordered Howard held without bond during a virtual court appearance Wednesday morning. His next court appearance is scheduled for June.

The bus was taking about 53 farmworkers to a watermelon field about 80 northwest of Orlando.

Six of the deceased victims range in age from 20 to 46, according to the arrest report. They were identified as Jose Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27; Isaias Miranda Pascal, 21; Manuel Perez Rios, 46; Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24; Alfredo Tovar…