Bus Driver Drops Child, 5, Off Alone At Wrong Stop: Hamden Police

HAMDEN, CT — A Hamden bus driver was arrested after police say he dropped a 5-year-old boy off at the wrong bus stop and left him alone on Wednesday afternoon. At about 4 p.m. on Sept. 4, police responded to the area of Dudley Street and St. Mary Street on the report of a missing 5-year-old boy.

A woman called police saying that her son didn’t return home after school. Her son, a student at Shepard Glen School, has a designated bus stop located at Dudley Street and Saint Mary Street, according to Capt. Ronald Smith.

Smith said investigation revealed that the boy’s father was waiting for him to return from school at his designated bus stop. When the bus arrived, his son wasn’t on it. He subsequently questioned the First Student Bus Driver Wojcich “Albert” Nowak.

“Nowak advised him that his son was on the bus,” Smith wrote in a news release. “The boy’s father searched the bus, but could not locate his son. Several students advised him that his son had exited the bus at another stop, to use the bathroom. “

The boy’s mother then told police that his father found him walking in the area of Dixwell Avenue and the New Haven town line with an adult. Hamden Fire Rescue responded and evaluated the child, who was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for further evaluation, according to Smith.

Officer Andrew Lipford interviewed Nowak about the incident.

“Nowak advised Officer Lipford that he had asked a 6th grade student to ‘come to the front of the bus’ and help ‘separate’ the 5-year-old and another child ‘from playing for the duration of the bus ride,’” Smith wrote. “’The 6th grader then advised Nowak that the 5-year-old needed to use the bathroom. Upon arriving at the bus stop located at Easton Street and Alstrum Street, the 6th grader told Nowak that the 5-year-old’s residence was close by. Nowak stated that he subsequently allowed the 5-year-old to exit the bus, accompanied by the 6th grader.

“Nowak returned to the First Student Bus Terminal. He then ‘recruited a co-worker’ to assist him in locating the 5-year-old. They then ‘recruited several of the children who he had already dropped off on the bus route’ to help locate the child.”

Nowak, 54, of Whitney Avenue in Hamden, was charged with risk of injury to a minor (leaving a child unsupervised). Nowak, who was released on a written promise to appear, is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Sept. 18.

Nowak was immediately suspended by the school district and later resigned, according to WTNH News 8.