Current:Home > StocksOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -Horizon Finance Path
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
View
Date:2025-04-23 14:10:24
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! (598)
Related
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Kansas will pay $1 million over the murder of a boy torture victim whose body was fed to pigs
- Group of Five head coaches leaving for assistant jobs is sign of college football landscape shift
- Don Lemon's show canceled by Elon Musk on X, a year after CNN firing
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Ex-rideshare driver accused in California antisemitic attack charged with federal hate crime
- Hunter Biden declines GOP invitation to testify publicly before House committee
- Federal judge finds Flint, Michigan, in contempt over lead water pipe crisis
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- 16 SWAT officers hospitalized after blast at training facility in Southern California
Ranking
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- The 8 Best Luxury Pillows That Are Editor-Approved and Actually Worth the Investment
- Psst! Your Fave Brands Now Have Wedding Dresses & Bridal Gowns—Shop From Abercrombie, Reformation & More
- Los Angeles Chargers' Joe Hortiz, Jim Harbaugh pass first difficult test
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Dorie Ann Ladner, civil rights activist who fought for justice in Mississippi and beyond, dies at 81
- 10 lies scammers tell to separate you from your money
- Police say suspect in a Hawaii acid attack on a woman plotted with an inmate to carry out 2nd attack
Recommendation
Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict’s cause of death revealed in autopsy report
Five most overpaid men's college basketball coaches: Calipari, Woodson make list
How to Deep Clean Every Part of Your Bed: Mattress, Sheets, Pillows & More
Small twin
Nearly half of U.S. homes face severe threat from climate change, study finds
Mel B alleges abusive marriage left her with nothing, was forced to move in with her mom
Connecticut officer arrested and suspended after video shows him punching motorist through car window while off duty