Driver in Crash That Killed 8 Had Just Crashed Another Car

The driver of a truck that crashed into a bus Tuesday morning, killing eight farmworkers and injuring 40 more, had been "in an auto accident at least three days prior to this accident," a Florida judge said on Wednesday. Bryan Maclean Howard, who faces eight counts of DUI-manslaughter, was ordered held without bail. NBC News cites an account from troopers who responded to the scene of Tuesday's crash in Marion County; they say Howard told them he had been "driving very carefully" because he "wrapped his mother's car around a tree" three days earlier after swerving to miss an animal in the road.

CBS News reports the 40-year old told investigators he'd smoked marijuana oil with a friend on Monday night, then took prescription drugs before heading to bed. The arrest report states Howard left his parents' home around 6:30am Tuesday to head to an Ocala methadone clinic where he was being treated in connection with a chipped vertebra in his back. The arrest report describes his eyes as being bloodshot and watery, and his speech slurred. A Tuesday afternoon test returned a blood alcohol level of 0.000%. Howard's next court appearance is June 18. (More car crash stories.)