North Dakota parents are reeling after learning of the recent DUI arrest of a school bus driver. Troublingly, the drunk driver had more than a dozen students on board when military personnel stopped him and placed him under arrest. 

A North Dakota school bus driver ended up in handcuffs for a DUI– with students on the bus at the time of the arrest

Military bases like Minot Air Force Base (MAFB) are home to more than service members. Military families also live aboard the installations. As a result, kids require bus services to get them to and from area schools. And at the very least, parents and school district employees expect the school bus drivers to be, well, sober.

Unfortunately, the driver wasn’t so in this case. A 65-year-old school bus operator was stopped by US Air Force Security Forces personnel and arrested after authorities stopped him and observed him “swaying in his seat” and “slurring his speech.”

The base’s security forces unit, which acts as a police force, responded to reports of erratic driving behaviors. Troublingly, the school bus reportedly carried over a dozen students at the time of the incident. However, the authorities stopped the driver and transferred the students to another bus before anyone sustained injury. 

According to KYFR News, the drunk school bus driver was an employee of Northland Bus Services. The contractor is responsible for the bus services that transport students from MAFB to various schools around the area.

Appropriately, however, the contractor terminated the school bus driver’s employment. Minot Public School District Superintendent Scott Faul confirmed that much in a statement to KYFR. 

“This driver is an employee of Northland Bus Services and can confirm he is no longer an employee,” Faul said.  “For the interim, the Minot Public Schools Transportation Department is taking over the specific route related to this incident.”