Staff at a Cottage Grove high school seized the keys from a school bus driver as students were boarding; he was then arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Twin Cities school bus driver with pending drunk driving case is jailed for DUI as students boarded
A state official said the driver was not licensed at the time to operate a bus.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 27, 2025 at 4:17PM
Officers were called to Park High School at 8040 80th Street about 3:10 p.m. Wednesday, a statement from police read, where school staff had already taken the keys from the bus.
“Additional officers arrived and found probable cause to arrest the 36-year-old man for DUI,” the statement continued.
The man, who is from Hastings, is held in the Washington County jail on suspicion of third-degree driving under the influence and child endangerment. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
Court records in western Wisconsin show that the man has a drunken driving case pending from a traffic stop in December. Allegedly, his blood alcohol content was 0.15%, nearly twice the legal limit, and he had a passenger under 16 years old with him.
Also, the man was not licensed to drive a school bus. A state Department of Public Safety spokesman said that still pending was a background check on the man by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The man was driving a bus that is operated by the Big River Bus Company in Hastings, said Principal Todd Herber. The Star Tribune has reached out to the company for further their reaction to the driver’s arrest.
Police thanked the “quick thinking of school staff that took immediate action to prevent the driver from leaving with children on the bus,” the statement noted.
Principal Todd Herber explained in a letter to families that “while one of our staff members was helping students board a school bus ... they noticed that the bus driver appeared to be impaired.”
Herber said the students were immediately removed from the bus, before the driver’s arrest.
“I appreciate the quick response of our staff in recognizing that something didn’t seem right with the bus driver,” the principal added.
The Minnesota Interview: Frank Ferrante shines in “An Evening With Groucho.”
