A 7-year old boy is lucky to be alive after a runaway school bus ran over him as he waited at his bus stop. The child, an elementary school student at Maryland’s Prince George’s County school district, required hospitalization after his ordeal.
According to police, the 61-year old bus driver, Arturo Roberto Harris of Clinton, Maryland, apparently needed to make a bathroom stop on Monday morning. Despite district rules to the contrary, the veteran driver left the vehicle with the motor running and children on board and left it in search of a bathroom.
The unattended vehicle ended up rolling wildly down Powder Mill Road and proceeded to roll down a steep hill located across the street from High Point High School, located in Beltsville. There were four school children on the bus at the time of the incident, aged between seven and fourteen. None of the children sustained a serious injury, though the boy that was struck by the bus required treatment at nearby Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. The child was treated and released a few hours after he was admitted.
The child’s mother, Georgina Tossou, said that her son is a student at Calverton Elementary School in Beltsville. When asked about his condition, she said, “He says his neck is hurting. He has some cuts under his ear, but according to the doctor, he’s going to be fine.”
Arturo Roberto Harris has been a school bus driver for Prince George’s County Public Schools for the past thirteen years. The incident has resulted in him being charged with two counts, leaving children unattended and reckless endangerment. According to police spokesman Lt. Bill Alexander, “I believe he thinks he has the bus in some sort of stop or brake mode, and for whatever reason, that bus begins rolling without him and continues on until it strikes that small child.” The child was pulled from under the bus by an off-duty police officer.
According to the school district, drivers are not permitted to leave their vehicles for any reason if there is a child onboard. In case of emergency they are trained to call the police, and in case of minor injuries they are to call the school’s transportation department.