Oct 17, 2008 7:21 pm US/Eastern
Autistic Boy, 3, Left For Hours On NYC School Bus
Bus Driver, Matron Arrested For Child Endangerment
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A 3-year-old autistic boy has been reunited with his family after being left alone on a New York City school bus for more than six hours. It was only when Jose Gabriel Lopez' mother went to pick him up from the day program he attends at a Bronx school.
CBS
A New York City school bus driver and bus matron were arrested Friday and charged with reckless endangerment. They're accused of leaving a 3-year-old autistic boy alone on their bus.
Jose Gabriel Lopez was doing just fine Friday, but the same can't be said for his parents.
"We couldn't sleep last night," Marisol Tirado said.
They're still shocked and outraged after someone deserted their son Thursday in the back of his school bus for six hours.
"I really don't want this to happen to other kids. They don't know what I'm going through right now," Tirado said crying. "I got scared."
Tirado said the day started like any other when she put Jose Gabriel on the bus, but when she arrived at the school that afternoon to pick him up, the school thought he was absent. Tirado panicked and then became enraged when a teacher went outside and found little Jose sweaty, weak and alone in the backseat.
"She screamed, 'He's here! Your son is here!' So I went running downstairs with the other teacher and I started crying and I said what happened! Then the lady said, 'Sorry.' And the truck driver said, 'I'm sorry. I didn't know he was there,'" Tirado said.
Jose's parents said they never received a call from the school confirming he was absent. And that's only part of the problem. It's still unclear how 25-year-old bus driver Terry Rocker, who was certified just last month, and 47-year-old matron Charlene Powell, certified in 2006, both forgot about Jose on such a short bus.
"They should have known right away because somebody had to pick him from the bus," father Jose Lopez said.
Both now face criminal child endangerment charges and have been suspended from their jobs.
CBS 2 HD's calls to the Pinnacle Bus Company for a comment about what happened have not been returned.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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