A parent faces a felony battery charge after allegedly boarding an Escambia County school bus and striking its driver with a water bottle following a missed morning pickup, reported WEAR News.
According to the news report, Lisa Brown, 32, was arrested Sept. 11 and released later that night on a $1,000 bond.
Escambia County Public Schools Transportation Director Darlene Hart said in an interview with local news that the incident began that Friday morning when a Bellview Middle School student ran toward the bus stop. The student was in the driver’s blind spot and could not be seen as the bus pulled away, Hart said.
Brown, the student’s parent, reportedly called the school afterward and threatened to retaliate that afternoon if the matter was not addressed. When the school bus returned to the stop that afternoon, Brown allegedly approached it while yelling as students were still exiting. Hart said Brown pushed past the students and boarded the bus without authorization.
Brown then reportedly threw water from a bottle onto the driver before throwing the bottle and striking her, Hart said. Brown also allegedly directed profanity at the driver before leaving the bus.
The bus driver remained on the route after the incident. Hart described her as an older driver who regularly greets her students warmly in the morning and afternoon.
Hart relayed that students who witnessed the alleged confrontation immediately asked the driver if she was OK. The driver reassured the students and declined to switch routes.
“She did not want to move from her students,” Hart told local news reporters. “She said, “No, I love these kids and they love me. I’ve never had a problem with this child. I don’t want to switch routes.”
The district’s code of conduct prohibits unauthorized people from entering school buses. Florida law also defines school buses as school facilities and makes unauthorized entry or remaining aboard an act of trespass, punishable as a second-degree misdemeanor. The offense becomes a first-degree misdemeanor when a person enters or remains after being directed not to enter or to leave.
Written with the assistance of AI.
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