Special-needs driver fired after DUI

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — A 36-year-old man has been fired from his job as a special-needs school bus driver after he was charged with DUI.

A story on ourcoloradonews.com reports that on Nov. 20, Rodolfo Luna drove a bus occupied by 11 special-needs students from a middle school to a restaurant for a field trip. While he was in the middle school’s parking lot after dropping off the students, representatives for Cherry Creek School District received an e-mail from a concerned citizen who reportedly witnessed Luna discard empty vodka bottles from his bus. School security officers contacted him via radio and instructed him to remain at the school, but by the time officials arrived, they discovered that Luna had left the area in the school bus.

In the early afternoon, school district security officers and the district’s transportation director caught up with Luna, and he was taken off the bus and driven immediately to an area emergency room where, in accordance with district policy, he underwent a drug/alcohol test. They were later met by sheriff’s deputies, and Luna consented to a roadside sobriety test, which he failed. He then admitted that he had consumed vodka and cold medicine prior to starting his shift that day. Luna was arrested and subsequently charged with DUI, reckless endangerment and child abuse.

To read the full story, click here.