Bus driver was drunk while taking 23 elementary students to school, New Jersey cops say
A school bus driver was arrested after New Jersey police said she drove 23 elementary students to school while she was drunk.
Suzanne Stoms, 48, was pulled over on Feb. 9 after officers were notified that a Clayton Public School District bus driver was driving while intoxicated, the city’s police department said.
Stoms failed a sobriety test at the scene and was arrested on a DUI charge, according to a news release. Testing showed she was driving over the legal limit for a commercial driver’s license, which is a 0.04% blood alcohol level in New Jersey, police said.
A replacement bus driver was able to safely take the students to school, police said.
Stoms was released and will later appear in court in connection with a traffic summons related to the DUI charge, police said. She was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The Clayton Public School District apologized for Stoms’ behavior and said she was immediately fired, according to a letter from the superintendent.
“It goes without saying that this is behavior that will not be tolerated,” Superintendent Nikolaos Koutsogiannis said in the letter. “Due to the fact this is an ongoing investigation, I am unable to share any additional information.”
Clayton is about 100 miles southwest of Newark and about 25 miles south of Philadelphia.
This story was originally published February 12, 2024 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Bus driver was drunk while taking 23 elementary students to school, New Jersey cops say."
