An altercation between a Georgia school bus driver and parents of students waiting at a stop left children in a state of panic as they attempted to flee the scene.
On Monday, Crystal Dawn Johnson, 43, turned herself into police and was arrested on a battery charge in connection with the January 18 incident near Old Harris Road and Jimmy Lee Parkway in Dallas, a suburb of Atlanta. Another parent, Ta’mara Tyisha Aborn, 28, was also arrested.
The incident reportedly began when the bus driver, who had stepped in to fill in for the regular bus driver who was sick, refused to let some students off the bus without their proper backpack identification tags.
According to Samantha Lee, a parent who recorded the incident, a heated exchange ensued, leading to some parents using an SUV to block the intersection.
“That’s so unsafe, and all of the traffic on 278 is rushing by at 60 mph,” one parent said. “That’s crazy.”
The altercation then became physical and a video of the incident showed what appeared to be the bus driver’s hand on a parent’s shoulder. Seconds later, a parent slapped the bus driver in the face.
The bus driver then closed the doors and drove away with the children onboard screaming and hanging out of the windows. Cellphone footage of the incident showed some of the children scrambling to get out of the windows and into the arms of adults at a busy intersection.
@sierrapb kids screaming for help in school bus and jumping out of the windows. bus driver wont open door. #pauldingcounty #fyp #whatshappening ♬ original sound – si si ❤️????
The Paulding County School District said that the bus driver remains on administrative leave while they investigate the incident. The district also stated that all of the children involved in the incident arrived home safely.
The school district has suspended Johnson from her bus route, and police officers responded to the scene to help dismiss the students from the bus while a supervisor helped transport the remaining students.
