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Charges of criminal recklessness with a motor vehicle are being filed against a Silver Lake man after he forced a Warsaw school bus to stop on Ind. 15 with children on board the bus.
According to a Warsaw Police Department report, Lloyd Wayne Perkins, of 3224 Courtland Drive, Silver Lake, allegedly forced the school bus to stop in the roadway on Ind. 15, south of the Claypool overpass. WPD Patrolman Greg Oberlin said the man honked his car horn as he drove his vehicle around the bus then pulled in front of the bus. The man slammed on his brakes, forcing the bus to do the same.
"The bus driver forgot (the man's) child," said Oberlin as to Perkins' motive. "He was angry he had to get up in the cold."
Videotape inside the bus allegedly shows the children on the bus rocking back and forth when the bus slammed on its brakes. "You can definitely tell when the bus has to come to a sudden stop," said Oberlin.
Perkins then attempted to get at the bus driver by hitting and kicking the bus door, according to the report. The bus driver, also from Silver Lake, refused to open the door, then drove on.
"The bus driver did what he was supposed to do. He got out of there," said Oberlin.
Upon arriving at Washington Elementary School, the bus driver again was confronted by Perkins, but Perkins left before police arrived.
"He took off and was leaving as I got there," said Oberlin. Perkins, he said, figured Oberlin had shown up at the school because of him and was afraid of what would happen and had forgotten his driver's license.
Della Swain, Warsaw Community Schools transportation director, said today, "Everybody's fine." She did not know the number of children on the bus at the time of the incident. Oberlin said initially there were 34 children on board the school bus at the time Perkins forced the bus to stop on Ind. 15, but there were approximately 50 children on board by the time the bus arrived at Washington Elementary School. No child was let off the bus while the incident was taking place. Oberlin said the bus driver did not know why Perkins was upset at the time.
Oberlin said all Perkins would have to do would have been to call the school transportation department and Perkins' child would have been picked up. The bus driver also told Oberlin he had planned to go back and get Perkins' child, who had not been at the designated pickup spot when the bus went by the first time.
Oberlin said Perkins wants reimbursed by the school corporation for the cost of his gas for having to take his child to school.
The county prosecutor is likely to accept the charges against Perkins, Oberlin said he was told by the prosecutor's office. The charges then have to go before the judge for review of probable cause then a warrant issued. Oberlin said Perkins likely will turn himself in when the time comes.
School principal Tom Ray was at a principal's meeting this morning and could not be reached for comment. Superintendent Dave McGuire also could not be reached.
