Church school bus driver ‘caught intoxicated’ with 38 kids on board

A church school bus driver whose vehicle got stuck in the mud with 38 students on board was found to have blood alcohol content (BAC) almost three times above the legal limit, according to local sheriff’s deputies.

Steven W Truelove, 55, was behind the wheel when the incident happened just after 9am on Monday morning at the intersection of Highway 50 and County Road 300 West in Indiana, roughly a mile west of the city of Washington, a town of of 12,500 citizens that lies southwest of Indianapolis, WISH TV reported.

The students were setting out on a Washington Catholic Schools field trip at the time and all 38 of their group, plus four adults accompanying them, were removed from the vehicle without injury.

Officers from the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington City Police Department and staff from Craney’s Body Shop, a local business, arrived at the scene.

Truelove was taken to Daviess Community Hospital for the BAC test, which registered as 0.221 when the legal limit in Indiana is 0.08, according to local sheriff’s deputies.

He was subsequently charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and is currently being held at Daviess County Jail with no bond set, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

The bus in question, a yellow 2007 Freightliner, is owned by the Diocese of Evansville Catholic Church, which expressed its relief that no one was harmed in the incident.

“The Diocese of Evansville Catholic Schools Office is thankful no one was injured during a transportation incident that occurred on the morning of May 5,” the church organization said in a statement.

“The safety of students and staff is of utmost importance, and we’re grateful everyone returned to school safely. We express our gratitude to the local safety personnel who quickly responded and swiftly controlled the situation.

“There will be no further comment.”