Lincoln County, N.C : Five students injured in hit-and-run crash involving bus on Highway 27 west at Rock Dam Road on Wednesday, April 15, 2015

A man arrested after a hit and run involving a school bus that injured five students spoke to WBTV about the accident while in custody.

Jeffery Wayne Powers is charged with felony hit and run, driving while his license was revoked, failure to report a collision and unsafe movement.

The crash happened just before 5 p.m. Wednesday on Highway 27 west at Rock Dam Road. Deputies said five students were injured, but have not said how severe their injuries are. All are expected to be okay.

As troopers took Powers, who was in handcuffs, from jail to a patrol car, he explained to WBTV how the accident happened.

"My brakes didn't - they started slowing me down, but they didn't completely stop and I hit the bus," Powers said.

He said he then got scared and left the scene. "I got scared because I didn't have any license, and I took off."

"I was maybe 10, 15 mph when I hit the bus, and I didn't think it was hard enough to hurt any of the kids," Powers continued, "And that's why I did leave. Because I had no license."

He said had he knew any children were injured, he would have stopped.

"If I would have hit them hard enough to where I thought any of the kids would have been hurt I would have stopped to check on the kids regardless whether license or not," he said.

He added that he hopes the children are okay.

"That's the only thing that's on my mind right now is whether or not those kids are alright," Powers said, "And I won't be able to rest until I know that those kids are alright."

He also said he would like to apologize to the kids.

Officials say the bus was from West Lincoln High School, but did not say how many students were on board at the time of the crash.

Source :
Police: Man charged after hit-and-run wreck involving school bus