Three Georgia adults are facing criminal charges after allegedly forcing their way onto a school bus to remove children they believed had been left inside for more than 30 minutes without air conditioning.
The confrontation occurred Monday at the Highland Trace Apartments in Lumpkin County, roughly an hour north of Atlanta, as a substitute driver delivered students from Cottrell Elementary School, according to the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office.
The substitute driver, who has eight years of experience but was operating the route for the first time, let students assigned to the apartment complex’s first designated stop exit. When another student got off early, the driver instructed that child to return to the bus because their assigned stop was farther along the route, investigators said.
While the driver worked to calm the students remaining onboard, parents approached and demanded that additional children be allowed to leave.
The driver explained that those students were assigned to a different stop and needed to remain seated so the bus could continue, but the exchange quickly became more heated.
Parents gathered outside the bus and spoke with the children through its windows as the “student’s behavior escalated,” authorities said.
With the situation deteriorating, the driver contacted the school for assistance. A second bus driver was dispatched to the apartment complex.
The students activated the bus’s emergency-release mechanism, after which adults entered the vehicle and removed the children.
The adults alleged that the driver had kept the children on the bus for more than 30 minutes and had failed to turn on the air conditioning.
Investigators later determined those allegations were unfounded. They also found that the children had been disruptive before the bus left school property.
According to investigators, the children had been “yelling, fighting, moving between seats, throwing objects, and refusing to follow instructions,” prompting school administrators and an assistant principal to board the bus on “multiple occasions.”
Video recovered from inside the bus showed that the disruptive behavior continued during the route, police said.
Authorities determined the children had been onboard for approximately 14 to 15 minutes before the second driver arrived, rather than the more than 30 minutes alleged by the parents.
Police said they found no evidence that the students had been “intentionally held.”
Investigators also learned that the air conditioning had been turned off temporarily while the gasoline-powered bus traveled up a steep section of the route because it affected the vehicle’s performance. The driver switched it back on before the dispute with the parents began.
“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 noted that school policy requires students to remain seated, obey the driver’s instructions and leave the bus only at their assigned stops.
Police said there was no probable cause to charge the substitute driver with a crime.
The sheriff’s office issued arrest warrants Wednesday for three adults accused of entering the bus, interfering with its operation and aggressively confronting the driver.
One of those adults, April Michelle Disspain, received warrants charging her with simple battery, disrupting the operation of a public-school bus and disorderly conduct, according to the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office.
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.
