Current:Home > FinanceOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -InvestSmart Insights
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
View
Date:2025-04-27 23:01:01
An Oklahoma bus driver is facing kidnapping charges after allegedly refusing to release students from his vehicle until they were quiet.
Surveillance video from inside the bus shows the driver, 68-year-old Thomas Young, refusing to allow anyone to exit and after a tense dispute with a few middle school students Friday afternoon in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb east of Tulsa.
"Everybody be quiet I'm not moving until I don't hear any speaking," Young can be heard yelling in the video. "You think you can get away with stuff. I run my bus a certain way I don't care what the other bus drivers do. You obey me."
One student told the driver that they needed to be home in 10 minutes to which he replied "I don't care be quiet."
Fast food stabbing:Jack in the Box employee stabbed outside of restaurant in California
Bus driver charged with kidnapping, child abuse
The Broken Arrow Police Department charged Young with kidnapping and child abuse for the incident, according to FOX 23.
Young had been a driver for the school for slightly over a year and received no complaints or similar incidents prior to Friday, according to the districts Chief Communications Officer Tara Thompson. Friday was his second day taking that specific bus route and he was running 30 to 45 minutes late.
Thompson said that while bus drivers do have the authority to enforce school rules, Young did not follow the training protocols while attempting to quiet the students.
The driver eventually stopped his vehicle on the side of a main road where students then tried to exit the bus, Thompson said. Video shows banging sounds which Thompson identified as parents trying to get their kids off the vehicle.
"There are students who open the back of the bus and jump out while the bus is moving which is a huge safety issue," Thompson said. "There were lots of things that went wrong in the scenario. The students didn't respond well, the driver didn't respond well."
'They could be anywhere':4 men, including murder suspect, escape central Georgia jail
'A sad situation'
Police Capt. Josh McCoy told FOX23 that Young endangered the children by driving at low speed while some students were moving.
"Holding the kids against their will, and the fact that those children were jumping from the school bus while he continued to drive eastbound, even at a slow speeds, endangered them and put them in a dangerous situation," McCoy said, according to FOX23.
Officers then arrived at the scene and immediately arrested Young, Thompson said. He was terminated from his job by the school due to his charges.
The school has received complaints from parents since the incident, Thompson said. The school also provided counselors to students upset by the events, she added. School officials are working to identify which students were inciting some of the issues that were against district policies, such as the movement around the bus and profanity.
"I don't think anyone woke up that day thinking that was how the day was going to end. It's just, it's sad. It's just a sad situation," Thompson said.
veryGood! (716)
Related
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- When Harry Met Sally Almost Had a Completely Different Ending
- Elkhorn man charged in Wisconsin sports bar killings
- Oregon TV station apologizes after showing racist image during program highlighting good news
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Vampire Weekend announces North American tour, shares new music ahead of upcoming album
- Kansas City tries to recover after mass shooting at Super Bowl celebration
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore unveils $90M for environmental initiatives
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Anya Taylor-Joy confirms secret 'Dune: Part 2' role: 'A dream come true'
Ranking
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Atlantic Coast Conference asks court to pause or dismiss Florida State’s lawsuit against league
- Get a Tan in 1 Hour and Save 46% On St. Tropez Express Self-Tanning Mousse
- Amazon’s Presidents’ Day Sale Has Thousands of Deals- Get 68% off Dresses, $8 Eyeshadow, and More
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- Paul McCartney reunited with stolen 1961 Höfner bass after more than 50 years
- A man is charged in a car accident that killed 2 Chicago women in St. Louis for a Drake concert
- Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan hit the slopes in Canada to scope out new Invictus Games site: See photos
Recommendation
Trump's 'stop
A $355 million penalty and business ban: Takeaways from Trump’s New York civil fraud verdict
Murders of women in Kenya lead to a public outcry for a law on femicide
3.8 magnitude earthquake hits Ontario, California; also felt in Los Angeles
Bodycam footage shows high
Prosecutors drop domestic violence charge against Boston Bruins’ Milan Lucic
A birthday party for a dying father chronicles childhood before loss in 'Tótem'
Auto workers threaten to strike again at Ford’s huge Kentucky truck plant in local contract dispute