School van driver pleads guilty to drunken driving, endangering passenger

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WILKES-BARRE — A driver for a transportation company pled guilty to drunken driving when he crashed a school van occupied by a care dependent person into another vehicle in Hanover Township.

Arthur Cool, 67, of Prospect Street, Wilkes-Barre, was driving a Dodge Caravan for Reliable Inc., when he crashed into another vehicle on Wyoming Street on Dec. 15, according to court records.

A township police officer detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Cool, the complaint says.

Police in the complaint say Cool failed a series of field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a blood test.

A mentally challenged person inside the Dodge sustained a facial injury in the crash.

Cool pled guilty to driving under the influence and endangering the welfare of a care dependent person before Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough.

Cool remains free on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 5.