A school bus Driver in New York was arrested after a 5-year-old student was reportedly dragged along a road when their backpack became caught in the bus door. The child suffered minor injuries, according to the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office; their current condition was not provided.
Deputies said they received a report of the incident on November 2. The bus had stopped at the child’s address on Martin Drive in Kirkland, where several students got off. The driver, identified as 37-year-old Tasha Van Dayne, allegedly closed the doors as the last student was leaving, trapping the child’s backpack. The child was dragged for a distance before the bus stopped, the sheriff’s office said.
Van Dayne turned herself in on November 3 and was arrested on a charge of second-degree reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor. She was released on an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in Kirkland Town Court on November 16. The investigation is ongoing, and it was not clear whether she had entered a plea or retained a lawyer.
The Clinton Central School District said the bus driver involved would no longer transport students, but did not identify Van Dayne. The district said support and counseling would be available to students as needed, and that families on the route had been notified. It also described the incident as frightening for the child and for students who witnessed it from the bus.
Sources: Us Weekly.