Current:Home > ContactOklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave -FutureFinance
Oklahoma school bus driver faces kidnapping charges after refusing to let students leave
View
Date:2025-04-15 11:46:17
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! (63)
Related
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Russia targets western Ukraine with missiles overnight and hits civilian infrastructure
- Why Jennifer Lopez's Filter-Free Skincare Video Is Dividing the Internet
- James Harden vows 'never' to return to Sixers as long as 'liar' Daryl Morey is there
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- New McDonald's meal drops today: The 'As Featured In Meal' highlights 'Loki' Season 2
- Wisconsin man missing 9 months since attempted traffic stop found dead in abandoned home
- Man sent to prison for 10 years for setting a fire at an Illinois Planned Parenthood clinic
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Is math real? And other existential questions
Ranking
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Perseids viewers inundated Joshua Tree National Park, left trash, set illegal campfires
- Utah man accused of selling silver product as COVID-19 cure arrested after 3-year search
- Alex Murdaugh’s friend gets almost 4 years in prison for helping steal from his dead maid’s family
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Who qualifies for the first 2024 Republican presidential debate?
- CNN shakes up lineup with new shows for Chris Wallace, Abby Phillip, more
- Stock market today: Wall Street falls with markets worldwide after weak economic data from China
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Michael Oher alleges 'Blind Side' family deceived him into conservatorship for financial gain
As weather disasters increase, these tech tips can protect your home against fires, floods
NFL's highest-paid RBs: See full list of 2023 running back salary rankings
From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
Massive explosion at gas station in Russia’s Dagestan kills 30, injures scores more
Young environmentalists won a landmark climate change ruling in Montana. Will it change anything?
District Attorney: Officers justified in shooting armed 17-year-old burglary suspect in Lancaster