Police Find School Van Driver Allegedly Intoxicated

WILKINS (KDKA) -- A school bus driver is facing charges after police found him allegedly intoxicated right before he was to pick up school children.

At about 3 p.m. Tuesday, a school van driver for the A.J. Myers bus company was on his way to pick up children to take them home when he stopped at Bishop's Pizza in Turtle Creek for a bite to eat.

The employees saw he was driving a school vehicle.

"They reported that a van driver, a school van driver, came into their business and he smelled of alcohol," Wilkins Township Police Officer Jon Sherman said.

When the driver left, they got his license number and the fact that he worked for A.J. Myers company. Supervisors told police the driver was scheduled to be at Wilkins Primary School with students K through six.

Police found the driver in the school's parking lot, waiting for school to be dismissed. They got him out of the van and he failed a field sobriety test and a breath test.

"He said he had drank earlier in the day at home between his morning run and his afternoon run," Sherman said.

Police took the driver to a hospital to have a blood test. He'll be charged.

"Pending blood results, it's DUI and other charges may be recklessly endangering another person depending on the number of children that he was going to pick up," Sherman said.

Normally, that's between 10 and 15 children.

The A.J. Myers and Sons bus company said they'd have no comment.

The director of transportation for the Woodland Hills School District says this will not be tolerated.

The driver has been suspended pending the results of tests.

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