On Tuesday, in Medway, Massachusetts, a school bus driver was arrested after a low-speed collision with a child on a bike and a verbal altercation with school officials and police. The crash happened around 8 a.m. near the Memorial-Burke School Complex at Cassidy Lane and Legion Avenue. The child’s bike was caught under the bus’s front tire, but the child was not seriously injured, as reported by Boston.com
After a crash, 69-year-old Kenneth Benjamin of Franklin was taken into custody for refusing to let school staff check on the children. The situation remained a verbal confrontation. Benjamin was found with a legal knife, which did not lead to extra charges. The school principal reportedly met resistance and profanity when trying to approach the bus.
Benjamin, a bus driver with W.T. Holmes Transportation Co., was charged with disorderly conduct and cited for failing to stop at a crosswalk after an incident at a Medway school that did not injure any children. He was released on personal recognizance and told to stay away from the school. After his arraignment in Wrentham District Court, Benjamin apologized, saying, "Hey, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have sworn at the principal but I didn’t know who he was and he got in my face and I was protecting my kids," as per WCVB. Medway Public Schools said counseling staff and the Burke-Memorial Safety Team visited classrooms to support students, and Benjamin will no longer drive routes for the district.
