A contract bus driver from a charter company faces multiple counts of DWI with child endangerment after a crash in Virginia Thursday afternoon.
The bus was taking students from Ben Murch Elementary School in Northwest back from a class trip to Cox Farms' pumpkin patch when the bus crashed with 44 kindergarten students on board. The charter company driver hit a rock, blew a tire and drove into a ditch.
“The staff realized once he’d driven off the road and caused that damage to the bus that something was wrong, and so they were able to get him to pull over again in the 15000 block of Conference Center Drive, and they immediately called 911 to request police assistance,” Fairfax County police Capt. Rachel Levy said.
Fairfax County police arrested the driver, 48-year-old Troy Reynolds of Oxon Hill, Maryland, who had a blood alcohol content of 0.20. Officers noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath.
Three buses involved in the pumpkin patch trip were taken out of service by police because of mechanical issues. None of the contract drivers had commercial driver’s licenses to drive those buses, police learned.
Parent Marnique Heath said she learned about the incident from a News4 breaking news alert.
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“We suspected that there was something like this at play, but we knew for sure once you all sent out your news alert,” she said.
Several students bumped their heads but didn't need treatment, police said. None was transported.
“It’s always scary when your kids are away and there’s something happening and you’re not there to protect them, but to find this out is terrifying,” Heath said. “It’s horrifying. And we feel blessed that everybody was able to escape this largely unharmed.”
"We thank the Murch Elementary teachers and staff who ensured the students' safety on their field trip today,” DCPS said in a statement. “All children were evaluated by emergency medical services following the incident and there are no injuries reported. We appreciate the support of Fairfax County law enforcement, who welcomed students at a nearby training facility as they awaited transportation back to the school. DCPS takes this incident very seriously, and our teams will do a thorough review of our transportation vendors to ensure that student safety is always prioritized. We are incredibly thankful that no one sustained injuries during this frightening incident.”
