---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993                   TAG: 9302240152
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

---

CAR HITS 2 BOYS NEAR SCHOOL BUS

Two Bassett boys were injured - one seriously - while crossing a road to board a school bus when they were struck by a car that failed to stop for the bus's flashing lights Monday morning in Henry County.

Johnny C. Newman, 7, and James M. Thomas, 8, were struck while crossing Virginia 57 to get on a bus that would have taken them to Campbell Court Elementary School, state police Sgt. J.M. Thillippi said Tuesday.

Police have charged Ephraim Sayers, also of Bassett, with reckless driving, Thillippi said.

Sayers was traveling east toward Bassett while the bus, with lights flashing, had stopped on the westbound side of the road, Thillippi said. The two boys were crossing from the eastbound side and were struck on the opposite side of the bus door.

Sayers said he never saw the boys, and Thillippi said he may have been distracted. Fog at the time, about 7:20 a.m., may have made visibility difficult.

Newman, who suffered head injuries, remained in serious condition Tuesday night at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C., a nursing supervisor said.

Thomas suffered a broken leg and internal injuries, Thillippi said. A hospital administrator said he was not permitted to release information on the boy.

---