DEER PARK, Texas – Police were investigating after they say a Deer Park Independent School District bus driver left a boy sleeping in a bus for several hours.
Investigators said the bus driver picked up students from an apartment complex on Spencer near Red Bluff at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"He got on the bus yesterday morning and apparently did not get off at his designated spot," said Sgt. Jason Meredith of the Deer Park Police Department.
The boy's designated spot was at Parkwood Elementary School, where the bus stopped 15 minutes later. The driver then allegedly went back to the bus barn on East 2nd Street.
As surveillance cameras were rolling, the bus monitor goes to reset a safety alarm on the back door, while the driver waits up front. The alarm is designed to make sure they're checking for children.
Police said they didn't notice a sleeping 6-year-old boy until he woke up at noon.
"One of the employees there found him walking in the parking area," said Meredith.
Police said the boy wasn't dehydrated and didn't need medical help.
The district said the child's bus driver and another driver took the boy home and apologized to his mother.
Deer Park ISD also sent KPRC 2 a statement that said, "The driver is very upset that she missed the child sleeping on the bus, and I'm sure our transportation director will be reviewing our bus procedures with all of our drivers to make sure that this sort of incident isn't repeated."
Police said they're not pressing criminal charges against the driver.
The district suspended her pending the outcome of its own investigation.
