Three Georgia adults are facing criminal charges after allegedly forcing their way onto a school bus and taking children off the vehicle, claiming the driver had kept them inside for more than 30 minutes without air conditioning.
The confrontation happened Monday at Highland Trace Apartments in Lumpkin County, roughly an hour from Atlanta, as a substitute driver was bringing Cottrell Elementary School students home, according to the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities said the driver, an eight-year veteran who was working that particular route for the first time, had dropped off students at the first of two scheduled stops in the apartment complex. When one child assigned to the second stop got off early, the driver told the student to get back on the bus.
While the substitute driver attempted to calm the remaining students and resume the route, parents came to the bus and insisted that additional children be allowed to exit.
The driver explained that the children were assigned to the next stop and needed to remain seated until the bus could continue, but the dispute intensified.
Parents gathered around the vehicle and spoke with students through its windows, authorities said, as the children’s behavior became increasingly disruptive.
With the situation escalating, the driver contacted the school for assistance, prompting another bus driver to head to the apartment complex.
Before help arrived, students activated the bus’s emergency-release system, allowing adults to board the vehicle and remove the children.
The adults accused the substitute driver of keeping the students on the bus for over half an hour without air conditioning.
Investigators said those allegations were unfounded. Authorities determined that the students had been behaving out of control before the bus had even departed from school grounds.
The children were accused of “yelling, fighting, moving between seats, throwing objects, and refusing to follow instructions,” which forced school administrators and an assistant principal to board the bus on “multiple occasions.”
Video obtained by police from inside the bus showed those issues continued during the route.
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Investigators found the children were on the bus for only 14 to 15 minutes before the second driver arrived — not the 30-plus minutes parents alleged.
There was no evidence the students were “intentionally held,” police said.
Police also found that the air conditioning had only been temporarily switched off while the bus climbed a steep portion of the route because it affected the performance of the gasoline-powered bus, and that the driver turned it back on before the confrontation with parents unfolded.
“The investigation found no evidence establishing that the driver intentionally withheld air conditioning as punishment, shut off the bus engine while the children were being held at the apartment complex, or ignored a clearly observable medical emergency,” the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators also noted school policy requires students to stay seated, follow the driver’s instructions and exit only at their designated stops.
Police said they found no probable cause to charge the driver with a crime.
The sheriff’s office issued arrest warrants for three adults on Wednesday accused of entering the bus, disrupting its operation and aggressively confronting the driver.
One of the adults, April Michelle Disspain, was issued warrants for simple battery, disrupting the operation of a public-school bus and disorderly conduct, the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Disspain allegedly forced her way onto the bus, made physical contact with the driver, removed multiple children and used profane language in front of the students.
Tony Ray Chastain was issued warrants for disrupting the operation of a public-school bus and disorderly conduct after investigators alleged he boarded the bus, yelled and cursed at the driver, demanded children be released and encouraged their unauthorized removal.
The third adult, Mariah Quinones, was issued a warrant for disrupting the operation of a public-school bus for allegedly boarding the bus and removing her child without authorization.
The investigation remains open, police said.