The driver who was arrested for allegedly driving high when he crashed his tour bus into another bus in Times Square was freed after preliminary toxicology results came back negative for drugs and alcohol, prosecutors said Thursday.
William Dalambert, 58, was arrested late Tuesday and charged with driving while impaired by drugs when he crashed his Gray Line double-decker bus into another tour bus just after 3 p.m., authorities said. But after spending the day awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, Dalambert was let go, said his lawyer, Stacey Richman.
Prosecutors were waiting on the full toxicology report.
A spokeswoman for the DA’s office, Joan Vollero, said in a statement that the district attorney was deferring prosecution until the investigation was completed.
“Preliminary testing for alcohol and drugs has come back negative,” she said. “We are awaiting results of the full toxicology report. We are taking this matter seriously and prosecutors in the Office’s Vehicular Crimes Unit are conducting a thorough investigation.”
Dalambert would remain on suspension, said David Chien, a spokesman for Twin America, who operates both tour companies involved in the crash.
Dalambert passed a drug test in June, Chien said. The most recent biannual DOT inspection was on May 30 and resulted in no issues.
Before the crash, Dalambert had a history of license and registration suspensions in New Jersey, where he lives, said Sandy Grossman, a spokeswoman for the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission.
None of his 20 violations involved DUIs, Grossman said, and the majority were for paperwork lapses, such as being uninsured or not paying child support.
His most recent violation was in November 2013.
Dalambert has a commercial driver’s license, she said. It is not known whether the violations were incurred on a personal or commercial vehicle.
Richman, Dalambert’s lawyer, said the violations don’t include anything “that would impact any aspect of driving.”
Tuesday’s crash, which resulted in a harried scene of tourists and emergency workers, injured 14l people, including three seriously.
The collision also resulted in a traffic pole being knocked down, which injured several pedestrians.
Dalambert and a tour guide were the only people on the Gray Line bus, police said. A driver, a tour guide and five passengers were on the other bus, a City Sights tour bus.
(with SHEILA ANNE FEENEY)
