DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A former relief school bus driver for Douglas County schools accused of dropping kids off at the wrong stop in Castle Rock last year has been charged with three counts of misdemeanor child abuse – negligence.
The charges against Irving Johnson were filed Wednesday in Douglas County Court in connection with the Nov. 18 incident in which Johnson allegedly abandoned dozens of school children miles from their homes.
Johnson was substituting for the regular driver of Route #253 in Castle Rock when he failed to “follow protocol,” pulled the bus over short of the third stop on the 12-stop route, and abandoned more than 40 students at the intersection of E. Wolfensberger Road and Auburn Drive, according to the school district.
Kids told parents Johnson drove around erratically for an hour after leaving Clear Sky Elementary.
No one was injured and the students were picked up by their parents a short time later.
Johnson is no longer employed with the district.
In an interview with Denver7 last year, Johnson said he was covering an unfamiliar route with a faulty GPS unit when he allegedly dropped the students off at the wrong stop.
Castle Rock
Bus driver who dropped kids off at wrong stop said he 'could have done better'
He also said he was dealing with rowdy passengers at the time.
"The ones in back weren't even listening. So, I got the kids, maybe in the first five or six rows, to quiet down and get in their seats and sit. And I walked down the aisle and spoke to the older kids in the back, and they persisted in talking. So I got a little louder, and they stopped talking as loudly, and they sat down because they had no choice. I was right there," Johnson explained in a November interview.
A court review of the case is scheduled for Feb. 14.
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