CyRide driver paid for nearly a year after fatal crash

A CyRide bus driver who pleaded guilty in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed an Iowa State University student from Urbana last year continued to collect a paycheck until this week, city officials confirmed this week.

Benjamin Clague, 24, of Gilbert, was driving a CyRide bus on Dec. 14, 2015, when he struck and killed Emmalee Jacobs, 18, as she crossed the intersection on Ash Avenue and Lincoln Way in Campustown.

Jacobs was a 2015 graduate of Center Point-Urbana High School, where she was co-valedictorian.

Clague was arrested in January after investigators found video evidence of the crash. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failure to report an accident and was sentenced to 30 days.

Clague would have faced up to five years in prison if convicted of the original charge. But under a court ruling, prosecutors were required to prove he knew his bus had hit someone. And in interviews with authorities, Clague said he didn't initially realize he had hit a person.

Throughout the court case, and after he served his sentence, Clague continued on the CyRide payroll, being paid $28,533 while he was on paid administrative leave, according to a statement Wednesday by the city. As a CyRide employee, Clague was paid $17.59 per hour.

According to city officials, Clague's employment with CyRide was terminated Tuesday. He began his employment on Oct. 11, 2013.

In the statement Wednesday, city officials said that during the court case Clague was eligible to exercise his rights to administrative and criminal appeals.

'It is important to remember that pleading guilty to a particular criminal offense does not necessarily mean that an employee will be terminated,” City Attorney Judy Parks said in the statement. 'Employees have rights, and each employee must be treated equitably.”

The city began the process of determining Clague's employment status after he completed his jail sentence and exhausted his appeal process, the statement read.

'The city of Ames must carefully balance the rights of the employee while protecting the organization against any possibility of an unlawful termination civil case as well as other potential civil liability,” Parks said.

Once a violation of CyRide policy was found, Clague was terminated.

'Benjamin Clague's employment at the city of Ames followed very specific policies and practices that ensured he was given due process as well as protecting the city of Ames and its taxpayers against potential litigation,” Parks said.

CyRide is the city public transportation system funded by the city and run in collaboration with Iowa State University and student government.