Driver Charged For Leaving Student With Special Needs In Van

PALMERTON, Pa. (AP) - A driver who left a Pennsylvania high school student with special needs unaccompanied in a school van for four hours has been charged.

The Morning Call reports 75-year-old Rodger Sander, of Palmerton, was charged with reckless endangerment Friday.

Palmerton police were called to assist emergency medical personnel Wednesday after Sander came back to the school van to find the 19-year-old Palmerton Area High School student inside.

The Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 owns the van and provides special education, behavioral health, and other services to the 14 school districts in the two neighboring counties.

The van owner has launched its own internal investigation into how the student was left unattended.

Police say the student was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but he is doing well and was not injured.

No attorney information is available for Sander.

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Information from: The Morning Call, http://www.mcall.com

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