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Police: Man Gets In Fight With Family, Rams Springdale School Bus

SPRINGDALE (KFSM) – A man was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Springdale after police say he got into an altercation with his family and accidentally rammed a min...
matthew brightman

SPRINGDALE (KFSM) – A man was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Springdale after police say he got into an altercation with his family and accidentally rammed a minivan into a school bus.

There were no children on the school bus, and no one was hospitalized.

Matthew Brightman, 22, was arrested on suspicion of six counts of aggravated assault, domestic battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated and violation of implied consent, according to the Springdale Police Department.

Brightman, of Bethel Heights, remained Tuesday night in the Washington County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Police responded at 4:45 p.m. to a report of a two-vehicle crash on Old Missouri Road involving a minivan and a Springdale School District bus. Brightman, a passenger in the van, suffered minor injuries, but was not hospitalized, police said.

Police said an altercation occurred before the crash between Brightman, his 29-year-old girlfriend and her four children in the van. The children are ages three, seven, nine and 11.

The woman pulled the van over during the domestic disturbance, and the altercation spilled outside the vehicle, according to police. Several other drivers also pulled over and called 911 to report the fight, police said.

Police said Brightman then forced everyone back into the van and tried to make his girlfriend drive away. When she refused, police said he grabbed the steering wheel and stomped on the gas, attempting to cross four lanes of traffic in a U-Turn.

Instead, the van collided with the back of the school bus, whose driver had pulled over to call police.

Police said Brightman was belligerent and threatened responding officers, medical crews and eyewitnesses who had stopped to help. He was then placed under arrest.

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