Utica Schools Bus Driver Suspected Of Drunk Driving, Arrested After Crash With Students Onboard

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (CBS Detroit/AP) — A bus driver for Utica Community Schools was arrested for suspected drunk driving after her bus carrying dozens of students crashed in Sterling Heights, authorities said.

The crash on Tuesday afternoon did not injure any of the 30 to 40 Henry Ford II High School students aboard, police said.

Sterling Heights police officers were dispatched at about 4 p.m. to eastbound Hall Road east of Schoenherr Road. Investigators determined the crash only involved the school bus, which had gone off a roadway and struck a street scene, causing minor damage, Lt. Mario Bastianelli said in a news release.

Bastianelli said officers detected a strong smell of intoxicants on the driver's breath. A preliminary breath test indicated the woman's blood-alcohol limit was 0.10, or above Michigan's legal limit of 0.80 for driving.

Police said the driver was immediately arrested and taken to the Sterling Heights Police Department for processing.

The bus driver's name has not been released and she has not been arraigned.

Utica Community Schools sent another bus to the crash scene to take home the students home who had been on the damaged bus.

The district said in a statement that the driver "is no longer operating a bus in Utica Community Schools" and added that there would be "a thorough investigation" of the incident.

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