Nov 27, 2007 8:02 pm US/Eastern
Bus Driver Allegedly Drops Off Child Far From Home
Makes Her Walk To Avoid Turning Around
TOMS RIVER, N.J. (CBS) ―
What if your child was riding home from school on the bus, when the driver suddenly says get out?
A second grader said this happened to her. CBS 2 HD spoke with both the little girl and her 15-year-old hero.
Until Monday, Charlie DeMaria and Analise McKay didn't know each other. But now they're close as can be.
"Dear Charlie, I thank you for helping me get home," read McKay from a letter addressed to DeMaria.
She read him a thank you letter for helping her through an ordeal yesterday. On her trip home from school, a substitute school bus driver couldn't find her house. After driving around in circles, he allegedly told her to simply get off the bus.
"He said we're not going to turn around, you're going to have to get off where you are, and going to have to walk all the way to your house," DeMaria told CBS 2. He said that struck him as wrong.
"As she was walking off the bus I said I'll walk her home. I didn't want her to walk by herself," said the ninth grader.
The bus dropped off McKay at around 3:30 in the afternoon. She then took a walk up the street with her new friend and walked for over a mile.
Analise's relatives are fuming.
"I don't know what the procedures are but somebody dropped the ball here. And something really serious could've happen, thank God for this kid," said Kevin McKay, grandfather to Analise.
The driver claims he only let the child off after DeMaria offered to escort her home, something DeMaria denies.
But the company concedes he acted improperly and will be re-trained. Asked why he's keeping his job, a spokesman cited his spotless 10-year record with the company.
At Monsignor Donovan High School, DeMaria was greeted as a hero. Now the two are buddies for life.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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