State Glance

Navajo police officer charged in fatal drunken-driving crash

GLENDALE — A Navajo Nation police officer arrested in a fatal DUI crash in Glendale has been charged with second-degree murder.

Kevin Hevel also faces four counts of endangerment, stemming from the crash last week.

Glendale police say Hevel was drunk when he sideswiped an SUV before driving onto the sidewalk. Authorities say he hit bicyclist Peter Rankin, throwing him into a light pole. The 60-year-old Rankin died.

Police say Hevel then drove through a red light and struck a police vehicle.

His blood-alcohol content was .0235. The state’s legal limit for driving is .08.

Tucson police: School bus driver passed out before woman hit

TUCSON — Police say an Arizona school bus driver passed out behind the wheel, causing the vehicle to careen onto a sidewalk where it struck and killed a woman riding a scooter.

Officers say the wreck in Tucson Wednesday afternoon remains under investigation but that there’s no indication that speed or drug or alcohol impairment was a factor. Police said no citations have been issued.

Sgt. Kimberly Bay says the bus veered onto the adjacent sidewalk and struck several trees and poles before hitting the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Bay says the bus driver and one teenage student aboard the bus weren’t injured.

Minor injuries in California school bus crash

NEEDLES, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol says a bus carrying dozens of students was involved in a crash with two big rigs near the Arizona border, causing minor injuries.

Authorities say the bus was stopped at a construction zone on State Route 95 near Needles shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday when it was rear-ended by a semitruck and pushed into another big rig. The bus was carrying a volleyball team from Buckeye Union High School in Arizona to a game against the Mohave varsity team in Bullhead City.

The school district says 30 students and three coaches were aboard and the only injuries appear to be bumps and bruises.