Residents in Stand Off are still in shock after a man entrusted with the care of children was criminally charged.
“No parent wants to hear their child is on a bus, being driven by an impaired driver,” said Acting Staff Sargeant Jim Bennett, of the Blood Tribe Police Services.
Just before 8 o’clock Wednesday morning, Blood Tribe Police responded to a complaint that a school bus driver was operating the vehicle while under the influence. The complaint was made by a member of the Blood Tribe Police Service.
“The off-duty member had dealings with this man at a house we had at about 2:30 that morning,” said Bennett. “He knew him to be intoxicated at that house.”
12 children were on board at the time, headed for various grade schools in Fort Macleod.
The Livingstone Range School Division and the Kainai Board of Education both refused to comment on the incident.
Police say after stopping the bus, the driver was taken into police custody, refusing to provide a breath sample.
“Larry Cross Child, of the Blood Reserve, was arrested for impaired driving,” said Bennett. “The investigation, we had enough grounds to charge him with impaired driving and brought him back here to the Blood Tribe Police station. He was subsequently charged with failure to provide a breath sample and impaired driving.”
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Cross Child has since been released from police custody.
The school bus was contracted by the Blood Reserve School Bus Co-op, which says in almost five decades of service, it’s never seen an incident as disturbing as this.
“This is a one time incident,” said Kelvin Fox, President of the Co-op. “We have been operating school busses for almost 48 years now. So we will, we’re going to be addressing this problem, and we’re going to make sure that this type of incident never occurs again.”
The Co-op says its drivers are hired after a screening process and must complete hours of safety training before getting behind the wheel. The management team says it’s waiting for an official police report before determining the employee’s punishment.
52 year-old Larry Cross Child is scheduled to appear in Cardston Provincial Court July 29.
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