Current:Home > InvestOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -USAMarket
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
SafeX Pro Exchange View
Date:2025-04-10 06:51:57
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! (2645)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Winter is coming. Here's how to spot — and treat — signs of seasonal depression
- World Series MVP Corey Seager takes shot at Astros during Rangers' championship parade
- Gunmen kill 5 people in an apparent dispute over fuel theft in central Mexico, police say
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Southern Taurids meteor shower set to peak this weekend: How to see the fireball stream
- Save 42% on That Vitamix Blender You've Had on Your Wishlist Forever
- WWE Crown Jewel results: Matches, highlights from Saudi Arabia; Kairi Sane returns
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- Succession star Alan Ruck crashes into Hollywood pizza restaurant
Ranking
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Maine mass shooter was alive for most of massive 2-day search, autopsy suggests
- Maine considers electrifying proposal that would give the boot to corporate electric utilities
- How real estate brokerage ruling could impact home buyers and sellers
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Gunmen kill 5 people in an apparent dispute over fuel theft in central Mexico, police say
- Find Out Which Real Housewife Is the Only One to Have Met Andy Cohen’s Daughter Lucy
- Here's what to do if you get behind on your mortgage payment
Recommendation
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Trump’s decades of testimony provide some clues about how he’ll fight for his real estate empire
Californians bet farming agave for spirits holds key to weathering drought and groundwater limits
Russia opens a vast national exposition as presidential election approaches
Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
Chelsea’s Emma Hayes expected to become US women’s soccer coach, AP source says
Unpacking the century-long beef over daylight saving time
Ukrainian war veterans with amputated limbs find freedom in the practice of jiu-jitsu