Drunk Bus Driver Arrested for DUI

When you allow your children to go on a school field trip, you assume that they will be well looked after and returned to you as healthy and as safe as they were when they left. It’s a fair assumption to make. Parents in Trappe, Maryland were less than pleased when they found out that their children were in the hands of a drunk driver.

According to reports, 30 middle school children and 10 adults took a trip to Calvert Cliffs last week. The children boarded their charter bus after their tour and set off for Bennett Middle School in Wicomico County. It all sounds fairly normal but, unfortunately, the story does not end there.

At around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, an anonymous person called 911 to report that a bus was weaving on Route 50. As troopers were responding, a second 911 call came in. This time, it was from a parent aboard the bus who also reported the bus driver as operating the charter in an erratic fashion.

Troopers arrived and stopped the bus on Route 50. As a cause of the investigation that ensued, Joseph R. Johnson, 45, was taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. A second driver from the charter company arrived on scene, took control of the bus, and made sure that all of the students and chaperones got back to school safely.

While the group was waiting for the second bus driver to arrive, they were treated to pizza by one of the troopers who responded to the scene.

Whether or not Johnson was disciplined by the charter bus company was not immediately known.