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Driver takes plea deal in bus crash that left Civic Theatre students injured

'We are in this together': Mom speaks out after daughter injured in GR Civic Theatre bus crash
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IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — The driver accused of being under the influence when she crashed a bus full of theatre students from Grand Rapids took a plea deal in the case on Tuesday.

The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre says it hired a bus company to transport a group of students and staff to a field trip in Ohio on March 29, 2025. En route, the bus veered off the highway and hit a guardrail, putting four students in the hospital.

45-year-old Angela Lynne Fitzgerald was facing 10 charges for the crash, but in a plea deal, four of the charges have been dismissed.

Fitzgerald pleaded no contest to the first 6 listed charges, including:

  • 3 counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious injury
  • 3 counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated with occupants less than 16 years old

The other four charges involved in the case have been dismissed, including:

  • 1 charge of operating while intoxicated
  • 3 counts of moving violation causing serious impairment of a body function

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