A Chisago County school bus driver admitted to being drunk when she crashed her school bus the morning of Feb. 15 with dozens of students onboard, reported StarTribune.
On Aug. 7 in district court, 60-year-old Kara Jean Ffrench pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving a commercial vehicle with a blood alcohol level of at least 0.04 percent, the maximum allowed BAC per federal commercial driver regulations.
The incident reportedly took place when Ffrench was transporting 45 Rush City students to school. About two-thirds were of elementary school age and the others in high school. No injuries were reported at the time of the incident.
Police arrived at the crash scene and saw the bus stuck on the edge of a cornfield after striking a basketball hoop. Ffrench tried to explain that she had trouble finding the brake and reportedly denied that she had been drinking.
Ffrench exited the bus holding a bottle of water and a coffee mug. The sergeant at the scene reportedly smelled the odor of alcohol coming from the mug.
The article states that a preliminary breath test administered by law enforcement at the scene measured Ffrench’s BAC at 0.199 percent. She later took additional tests at the County Jail less than two hours after the crash, which came back at 0.17 percent.
Sentencing for Ffrench is reportedly scheduled for Nov. 6.
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