CHICAGO (CBS) — Where were you when, on this day in 2004, a Dave Matthews Band tour bus dumped hundreds of pounds of human waste into the Chicago River? Hopefully, you weren’t on the architecture cruise boat that was floating under the Kinzie Street along the Chicago River when the bus driver emptied the septic tank, soaking tourists in what was described in the Chicago Tribune as a “brownish-yellow slurry.”
More than 100 passengers were on board that day, Aug. 8, 2004.
The Kinzie Street bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River. It was at this location in 1992 that the “Great Chicago Flood” occurred. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
The bridge, incidentally, was the site of another Chicago disaster, the great Loop Flood of 1992.
The driver of the bus Stefan Wohl, admitted he dumped the 800 pounds of waste from the bus. He was sentenced to 18 months probation, 150 hours of community service and the maximum $10,000 fine, which was paid to Friends of the Chicago River, CBS News reported at the time.
The bus, which reportedly was used by band violinist Boyd Tinsley, was not occupied at the time of the incident. The Dave Matthews Band eventually agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Wohl never drove a bus for the band again.
