RUSSIAVILLE, Ind. – An Indiana bus driver could be facing charges for reportedly leaving a child alone on a school bus for hours in the bitter cold.
“I trust that if I watch my child get on the bus that he should be safe and dropped off at school,” said mother Heather Johnson.
This past Tuesday, the Western School Corporation told Heather that her son Tobin never showed up to school.
“I know that he is on there, I put him on there, I watched him cross the street and get on the bus. I just kept telling the office that it is bus 63 and that is where he is,” said Johnson.
Turns out, Tobin never made if off the bus at Western Intermediate School in Russiaville. Tobin says he fell asleep and when he woke up, he was locked inside of the bus, which was parked at the bus yard. The surveillance camera on board was rolling.
“They said in the video that they could hear him asking where he was. Then, he started crying and hollering for me…he wanted his mommy,” said Johnson.
The Western School Corporation says they have a safety protocol that is in place to prevent incidents like this from happening. The district tells us that every single bus driver is supposed to check their entire bus each day at the end of the route to make sure no one is left on board. School officials say that protocol was not followed, leaving Tobin in the cold and alone for two hours.
“It is not like he was hidden, he was sitting up slumped over. So, it should have been something as easy as just looking in your rear view and seeing a child sitting there. Having the protocol is not enough, if it is not enforced,” said Johnson.
Heather Johnson tells us this is not the first issue that she has had with the Western School Corporation bus system. Last week, she says she reported this same driver for speeding. We are still waiting to find out whether the driver will face charges.
