An Upstate New York school bus driver has been arrested after driving drunk with students onboard and stopping at a McDonald’s restaurant for breakfast.
WHAM reports the Gates Chili School District notified families Friday that the driver, 29-year-old Lashonda Griffin, was arrested Friday morning after reports she made an unauthorized bus stop at McDonald’s and allegedly took two children into the restaurant with her. There were six students on the bus at the time, ranging in age from 5 to 16 years old, on the way to Northstar Christian Academy near Rochester.
According to RochesterFirst.com, one of the students filmed the incident on a cell phone and said Griffin told the kids "We’re going to stop at McDonald’s quick, don’t tell nobody.”
School officials contacted police to investigate. Lt. Robert Long from the Gates Police Department said Griffin had finished her route and was found incapacitated at the Gates Chili bus depot, passed out behind the wheel with a blood alcohol content (BAC) level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. She was given a field sobriety test and failed.
No students were on the bus at the time of her arrest. No injuries were reported.
“We were definitely very lucky in this situation that all of the children were delivered to school from home safely and that the driver had returned back to the bus garage,” Long said. “At which point we intercepted her prior to any other bus routes or any other students or people being on that bus or any lives in jeopardy.”
Griffin will be charged with five counts of felony DWI under Leandra’s Law, six counts of endangering the welfare of a child, along with several other violations. Leandra’s Law, also known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, is a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison for driving while intoxicated with a person under the age of 16 in the vehicle.
David Ferris, whose daughter was on the bus, told Spectrum News that it’s “ludicrous that this would even happen.”
“Her job is to get them to school, safely,” Ferris said. “It’s not to take them to McDonald’s for breakfast, so that she can get a cup of coffee or get something to eat. It’s just wrong... I would hope that this woman would get some help, truthfully."
WHAM reports Griffin, who was issued an appearance ticket, was employed with the school district on a probationary period.
“The safety of students and employees is the district’s top priority, and we are very grateful that no one was harmed as a result of this individual’s actions,” school officials said in a statement. “We are very sorry that these students and families in this community have been impacted by the unfathomable actions of one person."
"Out of an abundance of caution, the district is taking time to review safety protocols with all drivers.”
"bus" - Google News
October 19, 2020 at 06:40PM
https://ift.tt/31m4G9S
Upstate NY school bus driver drove drunk with students onboard, stopped at McDonald’s - syracuse.com
"bus" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2rp2JL3
https://ift.tt/3aT1Mvb
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Upstate NY school bus driver drove drunk with students onboard, stopped at McDonald’s - syracuse.com"
Post a Comment