The unsettling saga of a young girl from South Carolina and her unfortunate encounter with a school bus door has come to a conciliatory conclusion. The distressing tale, which began with an 8-year-old’s arm getting trapped in a moving vehicle, has reached resolution through a settlement with the Horry County School District. According to The Bailey Law Firm, this alarming incident was notably due to inadequate training and oversight of the bus driver involved (as reported via WMBF).
In a bid to mend the impact of the unfortunate episode, Stephanie Floyd-McInnis, the mother of the child, has sealed a legal agreement with the district. She alleged that the driver proceeded to operate the bus even as her daughter’s arm remained wedged in the door, leading to her distress. Consequently, the district has agreed to disburse $175,000 as part of the settlement.
“My primary concern has always been the safety and well-being of my daughter,” expressed Floyd-McInnis to local media outlet WMBF. She continued, “The oversight and conduct displayed by the bus driver, combined with lapses from the school system, put my child in harm’s way. Moving forward, while we are keen to leave this chapter behind, I felt compelled to stand up for her and alert other parents to this issue to prevent similar future occurrences.”
Law&Crime reports, based on federal documents, that the troubling incident unfolded on August 25, 2023. As the young girl prepared to disembark at her accustomed stop in the Conway area, she spotted two intimidating dogs and instinctively retreated back inside the bus. This led to an unfortunate confrontation where driver Thomas Michael Interlandi allegedly “angrily demanded” that she exit, to which she resisted, citing her fear of the dogs, as detailed in the court filings.
According to the federal lawsuit reviewed by Law&Crime, the incident occurred on Aug. 25, 2023. The girl was set to walk off the bus at her stop in the Conway area when she saw dogs she was scared of and retreated inside. The driver, Thomas Michael Interlandi, “angrily demanded” the girl get off the bus, but she refused, citing the dogs, the suit stated.
Interlandi shut the door, trapping the girl’s arm, before reversing the bus to a spot away from the dogs. The girl told Interlandi that her arm was caught but he kept driving, according to the lawsuit. Interlandi told the girl that having her arm caught “serves you right,” plaintiff lawyers said. He later told a bus aide that the girl “shouldn’t have put her hand there” while whining “you see what I have to go through?”
Plaintiff lawyer Tyler D. Bailey of the Bailey Law Firm wrote that Interlandi’s actions were no accident.
“Rather, it was an inhumane abuse of official power and shocking to the conscious to the extent that he was later arrested by law enforcement and criminally charged for his actions in this matter,” Bailey wrote.
Charges of unlawfully placing a child at risk or causing harm were later dismissed. The district let Interlandi go after the incident.
The girl suffered “severe” injuries that required medical treatment.
“No parent should have to wonder whether their child is safe on the ride home from school,” Bailey told WMBF. “Stephanie stood up for her daughter, and in doing so she stood up for every child on those buses. This resolution holds the system accountable and forces a conversation about the safeguards our schools owe these kids.”
The post ‘Serves you right’: Bus driver kept going with 8-year-old girl’s arm caught in door because he was mad she didn’t want to get off, lawsuit says first appeared on Law & Crime.