Local Bus Driver Arrested: DUI

Fri, 03/09/2012 - 8:51pm — Josh Hampton

An on-duty Butler County school bus driver was arrested on Friday afternoon and charged with DUI. Sandra Ford (Blair), 55, is charged with multiple counts following her arrest by Butler County Sheriff Scottie Ward.

According to Ward he received a call at approximately 3:45 p.m. that Ford was operating Butler County Schools bus #30 while intoxicated. The call came form a parent who learned of Ford’s alleged condition from their child, who was a passenger on the bus.

Ward said that he went to the Butler County Board of Education and met with Superintendent Scott Howard and Transportation Director Ken Reed about the call. The sheriff said it was necessary to involve the school system because he didn’t know the route of the bus, nor have any way to get in radio contact with the bus.

Within moments of hearing of the complaint Ward said Ken Reed contacted the bus by radio. Reed then left to go meet the bus along with Cindy McCoy. The Sheriff said that a second call reporting Ford to the school system was received while he was at the Board of Education office. Ward said that he later met Reed and Sandra Ford at the Butler County Education Complex where he administered two field sobriety tests. Ford failed both tests, and was then arrested and charged with DUI 1st (aggravated circumstances), and 40 counts of Wanton Endangerment in the First Degree.

The sheriff explained that the aggravated circumstances added to the DUI charge was because Ford’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was .192. Aggravated circumstances can be added to a DUI charge if the offender’s BAC is .150 or higher. Under Kentucky law a person is considered legally intoxicated if their blood alcohol content is .08 or higher. The number of wanton endangerment charges is based upon the number of students traveling on the bus. The estimate of 40 was given to Ward by Transportation Director Ken Reed.

Cindy McCoy took over driving duties aboard bus #30 and finished the remainder of Ford’s route on Friday without incident.

* * *

Story by Joe K. Morris, Beech Tree News.

Tags:

news

Comments

Submitted by Alisa Parrish (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 9:02pm

Thank you Mr. Howard and Mr. Reed for taking such quick action. Also, a big thanks to the parent that called to look out for our students!

Submitted by Freda Haney (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 9:23pm

I have had so much trouble out of this woman, I have been praying for God to expose her for the person she is. Thank you Jesus for protecting those children, My prayer is that she be held very accountable for putting those precious babies lives in such danger..

Submitted by Steve Merideth (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 9:25pm

commend the school system and the sheriff department on their quick response

Submitted by Holly Howard (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 10:19pm

Praise goes to those handeling the situation in a timely manner. So thankful our precious students were not injured.

Submitted by Debbie Marker (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 10:50pm

Good work!!!!!

Submitted by Ashley Hawkins (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 12:04am

OMG! I can't believe this! I'm laughing and upset at the same time. Sandra was my bus driver for many years. She was a nice person, but she had her moments where she was mean, and if she didn't get what she wanted, she would not only scream, but would write you up for things you really didn't do. She would just suspect things and automatically assume. Other than that, she was well liked and I've never seen her in this type of situation.

Submitted by Crystal Couch (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 12:30am

Thank goodness that none of the children were hurt. I've worked with this woman and never thought she was that kind of person.

Submitted by Jane Simmons (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 6:41am

This is just crazy how can anyone put kids in danger like that I am so glad that Jesus was watching over those kids!!

Submitted by Quincy Proctor (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 9:34am

We do everything in our power to keep our children safe and It saddens me to know some one would do some thing like this... Very thankful the children and everyone made it home safely. The out come of this situation could of been by far a very devastating event, but thankfully for Sheriff Ward, Ken Reed and Scott Howard they handled the situation in prompt professional manor to get all the children to safety and out of harm way.

Submitted by Sherry Phelps (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 10:05am

Thanks for everyone that acted so quickly. A special thank you to the children that came to their parents and reported the driver. Very mature act for you to do!!!! Two of our kids rides that bus but thank goodness neither was on there yesterday. But there were 40 other kids that was on there. This is so disturbing!!!!

Submitted by Dennis Ralph (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 11:07am

Thanks to those who took control of this situation. Also, I hope that our school system does random drug testing on our bus drivers.

Submitted by Sharon Hudnall (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 12:19pm

my worry,how many more are doing it to ? maybe Mr Howard and Mr Reed need to do some Checking on all of them for the safe of the kid's and how long has this been going on ? even in the speed tha run parents are the one's to thank for not just thinking she having a bad day and letting it go so a BIG THANKS to them !!

Submitted by Joyce Muchow (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 1:19pm

How could anyone in their right mind put the lives of 40 students in so much danger, Praise God no one was hurt or worse, do to this person's actions.

Submitted by Tosha Mudd (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 8:36pm

My niece rides this school bus and unfortunately was on this bus Friday. Not only did she witness the disturbing manner that this woman was in, she was also put in harms way by this woman. I am so very thankful that my niece made it home safe as well as all the other students on this bus. Much appreciation to Sheriff Ward, thank you not only for getting these students out of this terrible situation but also for keeping Butler County safe in your everyday duties. Also thank you to Scott Howard and Ken Reed for getting this under control and getting the students left on this bus home safely. Thank you to the courages student that was the first person to try to get this woman out from behind the wheel of the bus. My hopes are that this woman gets the maximum punishment for putting 40 students in a dangerous situation. She deserves nothing less. This situation that this woman created could have turned out much worse if not for the gentlemen mentioned above and the brave student who contacted his/her parents. Perhaps together Sheriff Ward, Scott Howard and Ken Reed can put steps in order to prevent this from happening again. I feel certain that these gentlemen will do everything in their power to see that this will not happen again in the future. Thank you all once again.

Submitted by Barbara Bates (not verified) on Sat, 03/10/2012 - 8:41pm

At this time I want to Take time to Express how Greatful I am for My kids bus driver~~Rita Lindsey you are the best~~wouldnt want my kids with any other!!!!Thanks Scotty Ward~~I knew I voted right!! Ken Reed and Scott Howard thanks for the quick action!!!

Submitted by Sharon Hudnall (not verified) on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 1:31am

a big thanks to the parents for calling and not thinking she have bad day as she has said to many yrs ago

Submitted by Wanda Brown (not verified) on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 6:14am

Yes this woman did wrong and she should pay for this. thank God no one was hurt! But we shouldn't be throwing stones! She will be judged by the law and most importantly by GOD! I think she has a lot of issues, so shouldn't ask God to help her, since he's the one that was watching over our kids? This lady use to be a good christian and a really, really good person! Something bad happen to her and now we need to let The law and God take care of her!

Submitted by Roger D. Hammers (not verified) on Sun, 03/11/2012 - 5:46pm

My kudos to those responsible for bringing this situation to a safe conclusion. As it stands now... hopefully Sandra will also be able to get the help, support, and yes, punishment, that she's so apparently in dire need of. I also hope that the court of public opinion will pause to remember... that none of us are perfect... and that there's bound to be an explanation for her behavior, if anyone takes the time to listen.

Submitted by Tonya Key (not verified) on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 10:37am

I completely agree with you Mr. Hammers. So thankful that no one was hurt.

Submitted by Anna Jones (not verified) on Mon, 03/12/2012 - 2:57am

Good job to our kids

Submitted by David Dockery (not verified) on Tue, 03/13/2012 - 8:08am

Thank god for watching over those children. It just goes to show u who can we trust, and know mater what job title or last name u got doesn't mean anything (edited). Remember we can always for give but never forget.

Submitted by Loretta Wells (not verified) on Wed, 03/14/2012 - 9:33am

fire her for putting everyone in danger they would someone else. Do they not run background checks anymore. Of course Thats Butler County 4 u again.

Submitted by Jacob Williams (not verified) on Wed, 03/14/2012 - 10:00pm

i wouldn't be so quick to thank the school board or staff their policy of drug and alcohol testing only being done every 3 months is the major problem randomly meaning it could be years between checks because not all drivers are checked every 3 months this policy should be every month every driver!!!!!!

Submitted by Tosha Mudd (not verified) on Thu, 03/15/2012 - 5:00pm

If I am not mistaken it is not the Board of Education that dictates who gets tested and when. I have previously worked for 3 Transportation Company's. Our drivers had CDL license as the bus drivers are required to have. Actually the state randomly picks people who are to be tested via a computer, those people are the individuals that are to be given a drug and alcohol test. We had one driver that was randomly chosen 3 times in a row and it had nothing to do with our company choosing who gets tested and who doesn't. It wasn't our policy or rule it is something we had to abide by with the state. Therefore, the Board of Education is abiding by the states policy and rules. If I am incorrect, please let me know.