Three adults face criminal charges after a confrontation involving a school bus carrying Cottrell Elementary students near Highland Trace Apartments on Sept. 14, 2026. The Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office said investigators determined that adults entered the occupied bus and removed children during a dispute involving a substitute driver and students, according to WSB-TV.
What the warrants allege
Arrest warrants issued Sept. 16 accuse April Michelle Disspain of simple battery, disrupting or interfering with the operation of a public school bus and disorderly conduct. Investigators allege that Disspain entered the bus, confronted and physically contacted the driver, removed several children and used profanity in their presence, WSB-TV reported. The allegations have not been adjudicated.
Tony Ray Chastain faces warrants for disrupting or interfering with the operation of a public school bus and disorderly conduct. Investigators allege that he entered the bus, yelled and cursed at the driver, demanded that children be released and helped or encouraged their removal. Mariah Quinones faces a warrant for interfering with the operation of a public school bus after allegedly entering the bus and removing her child without authorization, according to the station.
Investigators said they found no evidence that Quinones physically contacted or threatened the driver and did not establish probable cause for assault, battery, threat or disorderly-conduct charges against her. The sheriff's office also said investigators did not find probable cause to charge the substitute driver.
Why the investigation separated the claims
The investigation examined more than the adults' actions. According to WSB-TV's account of the sheriff's findings, the driver stopped repeatedly while dealing with reports of students yelling, fighting, moving between seats, throwing objects and ignoring instructions. School administrators boarded the bus at points to help. Investigators reviewed interior bus-camera footage, deputy body-camera video, witness videos, statements, transportation policies and the driver's recorded account.
The sheriff's office said it found no evidence that the driver deliberately withheld air conditioning as punishment, ignored a clearly observable medical emergency or shut off the engine while children were at the apartment complex. Investigators attributed a temporary air-conditioning shutdown to the bus's climb up Alicia Lane and said the system was later turned back on. The office also said available evidence did not support claims that children were intentionally held on the bus for about 30 minutes. The case remains active, and records identifying the students and their assigned stops were still being reviewed, according to WSB-TV.
The transportation-policy context
The sheriff's findings described students as being expected to follow the driver's instructions and leave only at designated stops, while adults were not authorized to enter the occupied bus and remove children without permission. Separate policies from other Georgia districts illustrate that kind of stop-control approach but do not establish which rules governed Lumpkin County. Monroe County Schools requires students to use their permanently assigned stop unless they have a temporary bus pass, and Peach County Schools says students may not enter or leave a bus anywhere other than their usual stop or school without authorization from a principal or designee.
Those examples explain why designated stops and authorized changes matter operationally, but they do not resolve whether the conduct alleged in Lumpkin County satisfies the elements of the charges. That question will depend on the warrants, evidence and later court proceedings.
A broader safety framework, not a frequency trend
The Georgia Department of Education says its Division of Pupil Transportation provides local education agencies with guidance and support for safely transporting public school children. State Board of Education rules require an initial school-bus-driver training program of at least 24 hours, although the rule does not show whether that requirement was at issue in this case. The available information also does not establish a statewide trend in adults disrupting school buses.
A separate Bulloch County case illustrates why comparisons should be limited. School Transportation News, citing WTOC, reported that seven students ages 5 to 14 were accused of attacking a 7-year-old during an April 18 bus ride, while the driver was charged over an alleged failure to report the incident. That case involved student-on-student violence rather than adults entering a bus and therefore does not establish a pattern or predict the outcome in Lumpkin County.
An earlier Richland Today report said deputies were investigating the disturbance and that charging decisions would be based on evidence and law rather than social-media pressure. The sheriff's office has since announced the three warrants, but the central allegations remain unresolved in court.
