A school bus driver in Longview, Washington, is facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless endangerment after a child who had just gotten off the bus called 911, claiming the driver of the bus was intoxicated, said Police.
48-year-old Catherine Maccarone has been placed on administrative leave while Longview Public Schools carries out its internal investigation of the Sept. 12 incident, said the district on Friday.
In a surveillance video published by KGW News, Maccarone—while driving an empty bus—can be heard saying her marriage “sucks” and also refers to her husband as a “son-of-a-gun.”
During what appears to be a phone call, Maccarone says, “There’s nobody on this bus.”
She continues, saying, “Technically, if some stupid whatever happened, and you’re watching this… no, I’m not crazy,” seemingly in reference to the camera that was filming her.
Later, while children are present on the bus, she is heard saying, “Did I mention bus drivers have to be a little bit crazy?” while making hand gestures.
“I am crazy! I’m totally crazy! I am so fun crazy! … Because I love life,” she continues. “Most people, they’re like, ah so quiet, and they don’t say nothing, I’m just super happy and silly and funny and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh she’s crazy!’ I’m not crazy. I graduated college like three different times.”
According to Fox News, during the 911 call, the student said, “Umm yes hello my mom isn’t talking because she doesn’t speak English but we just got off the bus me and my friend, and on bus 8 there’s a bus driver, Catherine, she was drunk.”
The child also said the driver passed three red lights, was allegedly wobbling, and that by looking at her eyes “you can tell she was drunk.”
The 911 communications center then contacted the school district transportation office and the bus driver was eventually stopped, said the Longview Police Department in a Sept.13 Facebook post.
The post also said that responding police officers “smelled an obvious odor of intoxicants coming from Maccarone.”
Police said there were no children on board at the time of the arrest. However, she had just completed two afternoon bus routes, which involved dropping off around 90 students.
Maccarone was later arrested and charged with two counts of reckless endangerment and DUI, said police, adding that additional charges could come after the investigation has concluded.
In a statement on Sept. 20, Longview Public Schools Superintendent Dan Zorn said, “To help ensure this situation never happens again we implemented an improved process for screening drivers prior to driving their routes each day. The safety and security of our students and staff is a top priority.”
The statement also mentions that, “a State of Washington Department of Education transportation representative is reviewing district bus operations and may have other safety measures to consider for implementation.”
“We are thankful all our students arrived home safely,” said Zorn.
The CNN wire service contributed to this report.
