Another school bus driver has been arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, this time in Maple Lake.
According to court documents, a 55-year-old man was dropping students off along County Road 8 and and Silver Lake Township when a child reported smelling alcohol coming from the bus driver. A school resource officer with Maple Lake Public Schools reached out to Wright County police, and a replacement driver was brought to the scene while the original bus driver was taken to the bus service garage. The deputy noted that the driver’s eyes appeared watery and he smelled of alcohol. The driver denied consuming alcohol but admitted to taking a NyQuil earlier in the day.
The driver submitted to a preliminary breath test, which revealed his blood alcohol concentration to be 0.082, just ove the 0.080 limit. He was officially charged with:
- Three counts of operating a motor vehicle under the influence
- One count of child endangerment
In a message to families, Maple Lake Superintendent Mike Rowe said that as soon as they were notified of the driver’s alleged impairment, “steps were taken to ensure students were cared for and transported safely.”
“All students are safe, and M&M Bus Service has informed the district that the driver has been removed from duty effective immediately and a police investigation is taking place,” Rowe said.
Many Such Cases
This certainly isn’t the first time we’ve heard about school bus drivers being booked for driving under the influence. Recently, we’ve blogged about a few of these incidents:
Minnesota Bus Driver Earns DWI After Crashing With 45 Kids Onboard
Another Minnesota School Bus Driver Arrested For DWI
Another Minnesota Bus Driver Charged With DWI
Despite the titles, those last two blogs are different incidents. This marks the fourth time in a short period of time that a Minnesota bus driver has been charged with DWI, and that doesn’t even include the blog about the town mayor who was arrested for DUI before he could drive a bus full of kids.
School bus drivers are carrying precious cargo, and there’s absolutely no reason to put a child’s life in danger because of a poor decision. We’re lucky that none of these incidents resulted in injuries or death, but it seems like it’s only a matter of time if bus drivers are going to continue to get behind the wheel while under the influence. Hopefully bus companies will increase their driver screening process to ensure only safe and qualified drivers can take kids to and from school.
And as always, if you or someone you know makes a mistake and needs legal help following an arrest, pick up the phone and contact Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
