Pennsylvania school bus driver was drunk, high with 54 students onboard: officials

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DOUGLASS TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Montgomery County officials have issued an arrest warrant for a school bus driver they say drove a bus filled with children with a blood alcohol level four times the legal limit.

What we know:

Kelly Weber, 46, is charged with Driving Under the Influence, 54 counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children and 54 counts of Reckless Endangerment.

Officials say she was driving erratically, narrowly missing other vehicles and nearly hitting a telephone pole while taking students home from school last month. Police responded to find the bus pulled over in a snowbank.

An open 750ml bottle of Tito’s vodka, two empty 50ml bottles of Tito’s vodka and a receipt from a Fine Wine & Good Spirits Store for the vodka from 9:22 a.m. that day were found on the bus.

Testing showed Weber’s blood alcohol concentration was .331, while the Delta-9 Carboxy THC level was 6.6.

Dig deeper:

An investigation found that 54 elementary school-aged children, five of whom were under 6 years old, were on the bus driven by Weber that day.

Officials say multiple children had also called or texted their parents about being scared while on the bus. One child even got off the bus at an earlier bus stop to get picked up by his parents.

What they're saying:

"More than 50 young children were in a dangerous situation created by this defendant, who chose to consume a significant amount of alcohol and then get behind the wheel of a school bus and drive miles while intoxicated," said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.

"We are all thankful that this defendant didn’t crash the bus and cause further harm to these children." 

What's next:

Police are arranging for Weber, who checked herself into a rehab facility immediately after the incident, to turn herself in.

She will then be arrested, arraigned on charges and have bail set.