School bus driver accused of pushing student down stairs

RALEIGH, N.C. — A bus driver is facing charges after he allegedly pushed an 8-year-old boy down the stairs of a school bus on Aug. 14, WTVD reports.

The boy’s mother told the news source that Narciso Rafael De Leon Alphonso, a bus driver for Wake County Public School System, asked her son, who she said is shy, to do a head count on the bus. He said no, and Alphonso grabbed him and threw him down the stairs, according to the boy's mother. She added that her son hit his head on the closed doors of the bus and has a scar and bump on his head. Other students aboard the bus at the time, including her two daughters, recounted the same story, the mother told WTVD.

The boy’s mother also told the news source that the boy’s school took a picture of her son and sent him to class, but did not notify her of the incident.

Arrest warrants show that Alphonso was charged with assault on a child under age 12, and that he was released on bond, according to WTVD. A school district spokesperson told the news source that a background check was done before hiring the driver in 2011. Alphonso is currently suspended with pay.

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