JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A 63-year-old bus driver was recently arrested, accused of driving a packed school bus while under the influence of drugs.
Police arrested Jean Jones on Tuesday after they said she was driving the bus recklessly before striking a fire hydrant near Ramona and Cahoon roads.
"I reached in my purse, grabbed my cell phone and called 911," said witness Star Lewis.
She said she was behind the school bus as it was driving all over the road and that she heard kids screaming.
"I know that there was a lot of behavior and yelling and screaming and everything else on the bus, but I'm not sure if that's because they were scared," Lewis said.
"One thing I noticed first off was that the kids were hanging out the windows. They were spitting on things and everything else. I was thinking, 'who has control of this bus?'" said another witness, Pattie Franklin.
Police reports indicate the children had every right to be frightened.
Authorities reported that they found a bottle of prescription pain pills with the bus driver. Jones was accused of operating the bus while under the influence of a prescribed drug.
Witnesses said before the bus hit the fire hydrant, the driver sat in the bus in the middle of an intersection.
"I know she was sitting there through a couple cycles because I saw traffic going and people honking, and she wasn't moving. She finally decided to move, and when she started moving, she ran right over the fire hydrant," Lewis said.
Witness said when the driver exited the bus, she fell on her face, according to the police report.
"The cop didn't say anything to her. He asked me to keep an eye on her so he could go over there and talk to the kids on the bus and calm them down," Lewis said.
The police report states that when officers asked Jones to stand up, "She just looked at me. I asked her stand up a second time. Officer Cox and I had to help her stand up."
The students on Jones' bus were from Darnell Cookman and James Weldon Johnson middle schools.
The principal at Cookman told Channel 4 she was not aware of what happened on the bus until Channel 4 reporter Jim Piggott told her.
Police said no one was hurt during the incident.
Durham Bus Company said the case is under review and that the driver has been suspended pending the outcome of a blood test.
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