CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A now-former bus driver for the Douglas County School District is facing dozens of misdemeanor child abuse charges for allegedly hitting the brakes to show students the dangers of not sitting in their seats.
On March 1, 61-year-old Brian Fitzgerald was driving home 30 Castle Rock Elementary School students, ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Video surveillance shows Fitzgerald telling students they need to sit in their seats. He then asks the children, “Do you want to see how dangerous that is?” before quickly hitting the brakes as he approached a stop sign going nine miles per hour, according to CBS News. Some students yelled as they hit the seats in front of them.
“Do you get that? That’s why you need to be in your seat,” Fitzgerald responded. “Turn around and sit down properly. If you guys can’t do that, you will get written up.”
One student called her parents to tell them her friend got injured during the incident. “The bus driver hit the brakes, and somebody got hurt so badly and is bleeding on the cheek,” she said. “We [told] the bus driver but he [doesn’t care].”
Another student ran home to tell his mother about the incident. “My son came tearing the through the door that afternoon,” said Lauren Thomason. “He sprinted all the way home. He was out of breath and red-faced and absolutely sobbing and shaking. He was terrified.”
Thomason said she was especially concerned about her son because he was still recovering from a concussion from slipping on ice, reports KRDO. She said her son slammed his head into the back of the seat in front of him while another friend slammed his head into a window.
In an apology letter, Fitzgerald told district officials he was sorry for his actions but that he was trying to “educate” and “control the students” riding the bus. He was later fired.
Fitzgerald was hired by the district in Oct. 2022 and had just finished up a driving class less than a week before and “was only half driving by himself.” Internal school records said he was “not experienced in dealing with difficult students” and in the days leading up to the incident, he had only been driving special education students. This was his first time driving a general education bus as a fill-in.
Fitzgerald alleged the person who usually drives that bus left it a mess and had a “historical pattern of improper student management.” He said the driver also has a history of “not following district guidelines” which “created a hazardous environment for everyone on the bus, including me.”
Fitzgerald said at the first stop in the morning, students were standing in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, and were “completely unruly and out of control.”
“Being a new driver, I did not make the best decision and if I were able to redo what I did I would rethink my decisions,” the letter concluded. “I am [humbly] apologizing to the leadership team of the Castle Rock Terminal as there are no excuses for what transpired.”
Fitzgerald is due for his first court appearance on May 12. One of the 30 charges is child abuse with bodily injuries which carries a maximum sentence of 364 days in prison.
