Bus driver charged with DUI
The Star Democrat

The girl used a cell phone to call her mother on the ride from Easton High School to Easton Elementary School. She got scared when the driver swerved to avoid hitting a parked mail truck on South Washington Street.


Her mother immediately called the transportation office, said Masone, and a Maryland Certified Bus Trainer was dispatched to Easton Elementary School to meet the bus there.


The trainer, a bus driver with an additional level of training, boarded the bus and sat behind Thompson as he made two stops to drop off students.


"After two stops, he did everything right. He stopped at stop signs, talked OK, let children out and operated safety lights," said Masone.


Masone said the trainer's first indication that Thompson was intoxicated came when he sideswiped the van in the YMCA parking lot. Masone said it was "to some extent bad luck" that the trainer didn't pick up on Thompson's condition before that.


According to charging papers, Pfc. Gregory D. Hall went to the scene and saw that Thompson's eyes were bloodshot and watery. Hall said Thompson had a "moderate odor" of alcohol on his breath and was unsteady when he walked.


The driver failed field sobriety tests. He agreed to take a breathalyzer test and was taken to Cambridge Police Department to take the test. His test showed an alcohol concentration of .10.



- posted by Jim @ 10:43 PM