By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


Sentence has been handed down to a Howell man for a hit and run accident earlier this year with a school bus in Genoa Township.

39-year-old Sean Purcell was initially charged with one count of failure to stop after a collision and one count of operating while intoxicated after the February 19th incident in which Livingston County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a crash involving a 2016 GMC Sierra pickup truck and a Livingston Educational Service Agency school bus at the intersection of Challis Road and Conrad Road.

The bus, which had no passengers on board, was disabled by the crash. Despite suffering heavy front-end damage, deputies say the pickup truck fled the scene, although the bus driver was able to provide a description of the suspect vehicle, which was located shortly thereafter. When deputies approached the vehicle, they say Purcell fled on foot into the woods, but eventually surrendered after being located.

In July, he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of Operating While Visibly Impaired in exchange for the Operating While Intoxicated count being dropped. He also pleaded guilty to failure to stop after a collision.

Purcell was sentenced last week by District Court Judge Daniel Bain to serve three months of probation and undergo outpatient substance abuse counseling. He must also undergo random drug and alcohol testing, with a review hearing scheduled in November.