A school bus driver for Park High School in Cottage Grove was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a school employee who was helping students board the bus noticed that the driver appeared to be impaired.
Police arrested the 36-year-old driver, an employee of Hastings-based Big River Bus Co., around 3:10 p.m., according to a news release from the Cottage Grove Public Safety Department. School administrative staff had already removed the keys from the bus by the time officers arrived, the release states.
The driver was brought to the Cottage Grove Police Department, where officers executed a search warrant to obtain a blood sample, and then transported him to the Washington County jail in Stillwater on probable cause of third-degree DUI, child endangerment, the release states.
“The Cottage Grove Public Safety Department extends our thanks to the quick-thinking of school staff that took immediate action to prevent the driver from leaving with children on the bus,” the release states.
In a letter to Park High School families, Principal Todd Herber wrote that school administrators responded to the scene and contacted the school resource officer for assistance. Students were immediately removed from the bus, he wrote.
“I appreciate the quick response of our staff in recognizing that something didn’t seem right with the bus driver,” Herber wrote. “I also want to thank our School Resource Officer and the Cottage Grove Police Department for their prompt response to help keep our students safe.”
A school bus aide for Big River Bus Co. was charged last month with felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly groping a 6-year-old Woodbury boy on a bus ride home last fall.
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