Newly obtained body camera video shows the aftermath of a dangerous ride for elementary school students in the Bethel Local School District.
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As previously reported, people who saw the bus taking kids home on Tuesday afternoon called 911 after witnessing it swerve across lanes.
The bus, from Bethel Local Schools, was stopped by a parent at State Route 571 and South Palmer Road, about two and a half miles away from the district’s campus.
Body camera video from the Miami County Sheriff’s deputies who responded shows what happened after the bus was stopped.
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“I want to listen to every student that’s on the bus right now,” one deputy said in the video.
A deputy spoke with parents as another ordered the driver off the bus. He asked what was going on.
“I was driving and a cat came out in front of me and a squirrel came out, and I ended up hitting the squirrel,” the bus driver said in the video.
The deputy told the driver that other drivers flooded 911 lines with calls complaining about her swerving across the road.
The deputy then asked the driver if she had a medical condition, if she had been drinking, or if she was taking any medications. The driver said no to each.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the driver stayed silent throughout the video, not looking left or right, simply silently following the deputies’ orders.
The district released a statement to district families, apologizing and calling the incident “unacceptable.” They confirmed that the driver has been placed on administrative leave.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the incident. They previously said charges are pending lab confirmation from a voluntary blood draw.
Depending on what the results show, deputies said they’d consider possible charges of OVI and child endangering.
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