DULUTH, Minn. — A northern Minnesota school bus driver is off the job after being arrested for DWI while driving his route Wednesday morning with more than a dozen students aboard.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office says a concerned citizen called 911 just after midnight to report a St. Louis County School District bus driver who was consuming alcohol while off-duty. The caller said the driver was "highly intoxicated" and would not be sober by the time he would begin his route Wednesday morning.
Deputies made contact with the driver at his home just after 6 a.m. and were assured he was not working today. The sheriff's office contacted the district with this information, and shortly after 7 a.m. law enforcement was notified that the 44-year-old driver did show up and was already on his route.
Patrol deputies were able to locate the bus and pulled the driver over. Inside the bus were 17 children on their way to South Ridge School in Culver. District staff came to the scene and were able to get the children safely to school. While grateful things ended well, some parents are questioning why authorities didn't communicate with the district to ensure the impaired driver did not take the wheel.
"I want to know why he wasn't stopped last night or before he got on that bus this morning and my son got on that bus," said a tearful Cassie Williams, a parent whose son was aboard the bus when it was pulled over. "We all could've lost our kids on the second day of school for something that was 100 percent preventable."
The suspect was given a preliminary breath test and registered .16, well over the legal level for alcohol. He was booked at the St. Louis County Jail on pending charges of second-degree DWI, a gross misdemeanor. Under Minnesota law there is zero tolerance for a person operating a school bus to be under the influence of alcohol.
Prosecutors from the St. Louis County Attorney's Office will ultimately make a charging decision.
The St. Louis County School District is headquartered in Virginia and serves students in five community schools, located in Iron, Cook, Babbitt, Culver and Tower. Superintendent Dr. Reggie Engebritson released a statement following the jarring incident:
“We take the safety of our students and staff very seriously. We are working in cooperation with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office as they proceed with their investigation. Even though there is a shortage of bus drivers, we are taking all measures to ensure that we have enough drivers to cover our routes in order to get our students to and from school safely.”
