A 19-year-old Indianapolis woman is facing three felony charges and a misdemeanor after police say she blocked a school bus carrying 37 children, forced her way onto it while armed with a loaded handgun, and yelled for the driver to come outside. Jamiya Sutton was arrested last Wednesday on the city's east side and remains held without bond in the Marion County Jail.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police responded to the road-rage incident on Sept. 16 involving Sutton's Kia K4 and the school bus, according to Fox 59. Officers arrived at the intersection of East 36th and North DeQuincy streets to find Sutton's car parked sideways in front of the bus, blocking the roadway entirely.
Sutton Says She Followed Bus After Hitting Construction Sign
Sutton told police she had hit a construction sign and believed the bus driver was at fault, so she followed the bus afterward. She admitted to officers that she pulled around the bus and parked crookedly on purpose so it could not leave the scene. The bus driver, however, told police the bus never actually collided with Sutton's car.
According to the driver's account relayed to police, Sutton then got out of her car carrying a black handgun, walked around the bus waving the weapon, and yelled for the driver to come outside. Court documents state that she forced the bus door open and climbed aboard while still holding the gun, before eventually leaving the bus and returning to her parked car.
Loaded Glock Found Under Driver's Seat
Sutton reportedly admitted to officers that she had been armed during the confrontation. IMPD officers subsequently found a black handgun underneath her driver's seat, identified as a Glock 17 Gen 4 loaded with a magazine holding 21 live rounds. She was taken into custody without further incident.
Marion Superior Court 21 has charged Sutton with criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, a Level 3 felony; criminal confinement with a vehicle, a Level 5 felony; and pointing a firearm at another person, a Level 6 felony. She also faces a Class B misdemeanor charge of unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle. Fox 59 reports that Sutton's initial hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday before Judge Ross Anderson, though a separate court-docket listing shows an initial hearing entry for Sept. 22, and the discrepancy between the two dates has not been resolved.
Bus Confrontations Have Surfaced Elsewhere
Armed confrontations near school buses aren't unique to Indianapolis. In Martin County, Florida, a father displayed a gun during a confrontation with two teenagers at an Indiantown bus stop after his son reported being bullied, according to WPBF. That confrontation happened as students were preparing to board a bus headed to South Fork High School.
Unlike the Indianapolis case, the Martin County Sheriff's Office determined no criminal charges would be filed in that incident, concluding the father's actions were legally protected under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. The sheriff said the father only pulled out his concealed weapon after the teenagers got close and repeatedly ignored his requests to back away.
