A couple of Brainerd High School students and their mother are facing
criminal charges after an altercation on a school bus Friday morning.
At about 7 a.m. bus #205 was picking up students near Emma Kate Drive and Dee Drive. A male student who had been put off the bus by the
driver a few days ago for causing trouble got back on the bus, police spokesman Ed Buice said.
The female driver, Cecelia Ball, reportedly pulled to the side of the road and notified police, per policy.
Mr. Buice said the male student began punching the driver and his sister, who was also on the bus, also got involved in the fracas. Their mother came to the scene and began trying to force her way onto the bus as well.
Mr. Buice said she was eventually able
to get the door open and gain access to the bus.
According to investigating officers the driver at one point was being
punched while her head was being forced out the side window.
At some point during the fight, the driver drove the bus away from the scene of the initial dispute. At some point she slammed on the brakes, causing the female student to impact the bus windshield with her head, breaking the windshield.
The bus was then stopped a few blocks away on Carousel at Greenwood.
Mr. Buice said, "Approximately a dozen or so students ran from the bus as police were arriving, but it is unclear how many kids were on the bus at the time of the fight, how many — if any — other kids might have been involved; and what information witnesses will be able to provide."
The 14-year-old girl who hit the windshield was taken to Memorial Hospital to be checked out, but according to doctors there, her injuries were not significant.
The bus driver was also transported by ambulance to Erlanger for evaluation, but she was not thought to have been seriously injured.
The mother, son and daughter were taken into custody. They were charged with assault and reckless endangerment.
The male student, a 10th grader, and his sister, a 9th grader, have both been expelled for one calendar year under the school system's zero tolerance policy.
Part of that policy says that a student will be expelled for one calendar year for striking any school system employee, officials said.
A third male student, also in ninth grade, has been suspended for the same thing. Brainerd High School officials conducted their investigation and found out that this third student was involved in striking the bus driver as well, it was stated.
Keith Brown, of the First Student firm that now operates the county school buses, said Ms. Ball plans to return to her route.
The mother was identified as Elizabeth Malone, 36.