Current:Home > ContactOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -GrowthSphere Strategies
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
View
Date:2025-04-17 15:52:22
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! (77296)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Chris Pratt Mourns Deaths of Gentlemen Everwood Co-Stars John Beasley and Treat Williams
- Everwood Star Treat Williams Dead at 71 in Motorcycle Accident
- When startups become workhorses, not unicorns
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Why Is Texas Allocating Funds For Reducing Air Emissions to Widening Highways?
- Andy Cohen Reveals the Raquel Leviss Moment That Got Cut From Vanderpump Rules' Reunion
- Should Solar Geoengineering Be a Tool to Slow Global Warming, or is Manipulating the Atmosphere Too Dangerous?
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan Respond to Criticism of Their 16-Year Age Gap
Ranking
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- People in Lebanon are robbing banks and staging sit-ins to access their own savings
- In a year marked by inflation, 'buy now, pay later' is the hottest holiday trend
- Disaster by Disaster
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- Deaths & Major Events
- No New Natural Gas: Michigan Utility Charts a Course Free of Fossil Fuels
- Climate Change is Weakening the Ocean Currents That Shape Weather on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Recommendation
Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
Polluting Industries Cash-In on COVID, Harming Climate in the Process
FEMA Knows a Lot About Climate-Driven Flooding. But It’s Not Pushing Homeowners Hard Enough to Buy Insurance
How inflation expectations affect the economy
North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
In Louisiana, Stepping onto Oil and Gas Industry Land May Soon Get You 3 Years or More in Prison
Rachel Bilson’s Vibrator Confession Will Have You Buzzing
Residents Fight to Keep Composting From Getting Trashed in New York City’s Covid-19 Budget Cuts