Drunk Bus Driver, 3X Legal Limit, Vomited On Council Rock Route: Cops

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA - A former Durham School Services bus driver contracted to transport Council Rock School District students is facing charges after authorities said he was driving a bus with children on board while intoxicated and was involved in a hit-and-run crash in his personal vehicle earlier that same day.

Matthew C. Dudek, 35, of East Norriton, is charged by Newtown Township and Northampton Township Police with 12 counts of endangering the welfare of children and single counts of DUI and an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle.

According to police documents filed in the case, Dudek had a blood alcohol concentration nearly three times the legal limit shortly after transporting children. He also vomited on the bus floor, the bus’s internal video system showed, according to police.

The incident happened on Dec. 15, when police say Dudek rear-ended a car waiting to turn on the Newtown Bypass at Richboro Road. Police said he left the scene of the accident and arrived at the bus depot on Swamp Road in Wrightstown for work at 2:25 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m. that same day, Newtown Township Police were called to the school bus depot for the report of a school bus driver who smelled like marijuana.

During their investigation, Dudek told police he had been living in a recovery house in Croydon and that he had been drinking wine the night before, which violated his living conditions with the Recovery House. He was subsequently asked to leave the house for two days, he told police, according to documents.

Dudek told police that he began taking shots of vodka that morning around 11 a.m. and drove his personal vehicle - a black Volkswagen Passat - to the bus yard at about 2:25 p.m. for work, police documents state.

Dudek confirmed to police that around 3 p.m. he picked up 12 students from the Holland Middle School and dropped them at their respective bus stops. After he had completed the route, he drove to the Richboro Elementary School to pick up his second route of students, court documents say.

According to court documents, a student who had been on the initial run called her parents with the belief that the driver was impaired. Her parents contacted the bus company, which reached out school principal Principal Daneyelle Jordan.

Upon arriving at Richboro Elementary School, Dudek was met by Jordan. When she asked him about what appeared to be vomit on the bus floor, he did not respond. She asked the driver not to leave the property and that another driver was on the way. With that, Jordan said he shut the bus door and drove away with the empty bus, according to police documents.

Police said Dudek’s black 2018 Volkswagen Passat, parked at the bus depot, had front-end damage consistent with what was reported from the earlier hit-and-run crash along the Newtown Bypass.

When asked about the accident, Dudek told officers that due to his drinking, he was unable to remember the crash, court papers say.

Based on the results of a sobriety test and portable breath test administered in the bus depot parking lot, police placed Dudek under arrest. Blood samples taken returned with a .234 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC), court papers said. The legal limit is .08.

As part of the investigation, police said they also reviewed the bus’s internal video, which shows that after Dudek dropped off the children he began to cough and vomit on the door of the bus. Throughout the video, investigators noted that Dudek did not consume any beverages while on the route.

In a statement to the community, Durham School Services, which Council Rock contracts to provide bus service to the district, apologized “for the concern and distress this situation has caused” to students, parents, and the entire Council Rock community.

“We recognize the gravity of the situation and are fully cooperating with local authorities,” said Durham. “Further, we have thoroughly investigated this incident and continue to improve our systems and procedures to help make sure something like this never happens again in the Council Rock community.”

Dudek is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in March before District Judge Michael Petrucci.