No contest plea in school bus crash

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A Turlock woman has pleaded no contest to causing an accident that sent a school bus into a house last year.

The Stanislaus County district attorney's office said Wednesday that Tiffany Lafollette, 36, of Turlock entered the plea to all charges against her Monday.

Lafollette, pictured, was charged with felony driving under the influence of drugs, causing injury to another and possession of cocaine after the Jan. 29, 2007, crash. According to the California Highway Patrol, which investigates all school bus accidents, Lafollette failed to stop at the intersection of Quincy Road and Castleview Drive and her Dodge Durango hit the side of the bus about 7 a.m.

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The force of the impact sent the bus over the curb and into the house, where it stopped inside a child's bedroom. Several junior high students on the bus were thrown from their seats and suffered minor bruising. Two children were treated at the hospital for neck and rib pain.

No one in the house was injured. Investigators determined Lafollette was under the influence of the prescription drugs Xanax, a central nervous system depressant, and cytalopram, which causes drowsiness, according to the district attorney's office news release. Cocaine also was found in her vehicle. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27. Lafollette faces a maximum of five years and eight months in prison, according to the news release.