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PINE BARRENS TRIBUNE www.pinebarrenstribune.com
Vol. 2 - No. 6
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The News Leader of the Pines
October 7–13, 2017
Children Shaken Following Bus Intrusion Erratically Behaving Man Boards School Bus While Driver Struggles to Get in Contact with Police By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
WOODLAND—A dangerous ordeal on the first day of school here has left a number of parents deeply concerned with the Woodland Township School District’s transportation operation and communication abilities during a crisis. Dawn Johnson, one of the concerned parents, received a text message from her 6th grade daughter on the morning of Sept. 7 she’ll never forget. “She texted me, ‘Mommy, there is a man on our bus and he won’t get off. He is just lying on the bus (floor and seats),”’ she said. “My daughter also told me that the bus driver was trying to call the cops, but had no cellphone service.”
At first, Johnson said she thought her daughter may have mistaken the man for a bus aide since it was the first day of school. “Something like this has never happened before,” she said. However, Johnson said her daughter text messaged her again that the bus driver was repeatedly screaming at the man to “Get off the bus!” and he was ignoring the directive. She said that is when reality set in that a stranger had hopped on the bus. Johnson said she immediately called the main office of the Chatsworth Elementary School, where her child attends school. However, she said school officials did not answer the telephone. “I got a message machine,” she said. “My daughter told me that the kids on the bus
were holding each other’s hands and she was afraid the stranger was going to see her with a cellphone and take it. I was crying and shaking.” Johnson said her daughter did not know what road the bus was on as the incident unfolded. Panicked, Johnson said she called her husband, who was at work. She said he immediately began to head towards Woodland Township, but didn’t know where to go. “My daughter said the stranger put his niece on the bus and hopped on himself,” she said. Johnson said she called her friend, Kim Kaiser, who is familiar with the student body. She said Kaiser was able to identify the road the bus was on as Baptist Road. She added that Kaiser found the school bus on Baptist Road, at a “dead end.” “My girlfriend drove right over to the bus,”
Johnson said. “Kim pulled up and handed her cellphone to the bus driver. By the time Kim arrived, the man did get off the bus without the assistance of police. The bus driver told her she pulled down to the end of the road to get away from the stranger and she still had to pick a kid up for school on it.” Kaiser did not return requests for comment. Johnson said Kaiser told her that Business Administrator George Gahles, Superintendent Misty Weiss and a school secretary pulled up to the scene as she handed the driver her cellphone. “The police came,” Johnson said. “But they couldn’t find the man right away.” Johnson said Weiss returned her message later in the school day.
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