16 January 2003
A Laidlaw Transit Inc. driver kicked all passengers
off his bus Sunday evening in Mesa, Colorado, after a snowball flung
by one of his young charges struck him in the back of the head.
Officials said they were investigating, but had taken no action
against the driver, who was driving as many as 70 skiers - ages
7 to 15 - home to the Grand Valley from Powderhorn Ski Resort.
Beer and marijuana
They anticipated taking no action against the driver, but the parent
of one passenger said she planned to file a report with the Mesa
County Sheriff's Department seeking an investigation of his conduct,
as well as the goings-on in the bus, which were said to include
foul language, beer drinking and cigarette and marijuana smoking.
The bus driver, though, said he'd make the same decision again.
"I'd a heckuva lot rather have them be safe with a phone on solid
ground than in a ditch or a creek," said Max Freed, the driver.
Carjack threat
Parents were additionally frightened by the news that a man was
shot in a carjacking just a few miles from where their children
were dropped with no arrangements made for their safe return. "My
God, there were killers there in the same identical location and
these children had to get off the bus with no recourse," said Mary
Wisecup, whose 14-year-old son Tyler was on the bus.
One rider on the bus, who said she was the only adult but asked
not to be further identified, said trouble started on the morning
ride up, when some young people got off and on the bus at various
stops, bringing with them cigarettes and beer. Laidlaw buses are
supposed to travel to and from the resort in tandem, and one driver
issued a warning at the Horizon Drive stop, but to no avail.
At the end of the day, both buses loaded up and headed down. After
one outburst of snow- ball-throwing in the aisle, the driver issued
a warning, according to passengers and their parents, but failed
to deter a second outburst just after the bus passed through Mesa.
Serious snowballs
The driver "was struck in the back of the head by a snowball that
was either very icy or had a rock in it," said Janet Prell of the
Sheriff's Department. The driver, she said, suffered "significant
pain." "It was lucky it was on a straight stretch of road" when
the snowball struck, Freed said. "I saw stars for I don't know how
long. I was more scared about what might have happened." He feared
he could not drive a full bus safely down the winding Plateau Canyon
road, Freed said, so he decided to unload the bus in Mesa. "I would
do the same thing again," he said. "I don't want any injuries on
my conscience." He declined to comment further until speaking with
his supervisor.
Tyler Wisecup said the driver turned the bus around just below Mesa,
near the De Beque cutoff. "He just turned around and dropped us
off at the church" and the driver never got out of the bus to make
other arrangements for his passengers' trip home, he said. "It wasn't
exactly a pleasant experience," Mary Wisecup said. "He cussed the
kids out and opened the door."
Stranded in restaurant
Especially frustrating, she said, was that several passengers identified
the snowball thrower, "but he wouldn't listen and kicked them all
off. He was fully aware of who it was and it made no difference.
The driver should never have left 70 kids to the elements and who
knows what." A deputy arrived shortly after the passengers found
their way to the Wagon Wheel restaurant and were given hot chocolate
and allowed to make arrangements to get home.
There appeared to be no criminal wrongdoing, she said, because the
passengers seemed to have been dropped off in a "safe, public place."
Even while passengers still were lingering, the restaurant was in
the center of activity again as law enforcement investigated a carjacking
at a sledding area above Powderhorn. "Those kids were still up there.
Those people were still at large," Mary Wisecup said.
Video cameras in the buses
It's the driver's call whether it's safe to continue, Laidlaw manager
Glen Schultz said. "We're going to do more investigation but we
don't condone dropping them off." The Powderhorn run has been plagued
with behavior and other problems, Schultz said. "We've had so many
instances we're probably going to shut down the service," he said.
Video cameras are installed in the buses, but Schultz said he didn't
know whether it was operating.
[Source: The Colorado Daily Sentinel]
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