A New York bus driver has been hit with multiple criminal charges after it was discovered that she had driven students while drunk—and that she had made a pit stop at McDonald’s to get some breakfast.
The New York Post reports that Lashonda Griffin was arrested at the Gates Chili School District’s bus depot on Friday in Rochester, New York. She passed out after dropping the students off at school, with a blood alcohol content higher than the legal limit.
The 29-year-old drove six students, from ages five to 16 years old, on her bus to Northstar Christian Academy that morning. One kid said Griffin told students, “We’re going to stop at McDonald’s quick, don’t tell nobody,” per WROC-TV.
She also brought at least two students into the fast-food spot to pick up her food. “To be honest, I was a little bit confused by it,” an exchange student, Tu Tran, told the news station.
All of the students had gotten off the bus before she was found incapacitated in the driver’s seat and failed a sobriety test.
“We were definitely very lucky in this situation that all of the children were delivered to school from home safely and that the driver had returned back to the bus garage,” Gates Police Lt. Robert Long told Syracuse.com. Griffin is facing multiple counts of DWI and child endangerment. She was given an appearance ticket and let go.
The school said the district had employed Griffin on a probationary period and they’re “taking time to review safety protocols with all drivers,” according to the outlet.
“While the district cannot comment directly on personnel matters, we can say that this is an egregious violation of our policies and practices and will never be tolerated,” the district said.
