Driver Who Left School Bus With Kids On Board Pleads Guilty

A driver who left his Prince George’s County Public Schools bus unattended, reportedly to use the bathroom, has pleaded guilty to charges of reckless endangerment and traffic citations after the unmanned bus struck a child.

The driver left four students unattended on the bus April 7 in front of High Point High School and the vehicle drifted across Powder Mill Road. The bus then hit a 6-year-old waiting at a bus stop.

Bus driver Arturo Roberto Harris, 61, of the 6900 block of Northgate Parkway in Clinton, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of reckless endangerment, one count of leaving a child unattended and failing to curb the wheels of an unattended vehicle, according to The Washington Post.

A Baltimore County auxiliary police officer who saw the accident rushed to the scene to help, police said. The auxiliary officer pulled the child from underneath the bus and stayed with him until paramedics arrived.

The four students on the bus at the time of the accident were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.

Prosecutors are asking that Harris be sentenced to a 15-year term, with all but 30 days suspended, and three years of supervised probation, the newspaper says.

His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

»Arturo Harris, 62, of Clinton. Credit: Prince George’s County Police