Galveston Co. bus driver arrested, charged after allegedly assaulting 11-year-old over bag of chips
BACLIFF, Texas - A Galveston County bus driver is facing charges after investigators say he put his hands on a child – all over a bag of chips.
Lindsey Wynne says she’s furious and wants answers because she says her son wasn’t given a chance to follow the rules.
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"He called me crying, telling me he got kicked off the bus, immediately opened the door. He's on the porch, I said, ‘what happened?’ He said, ‘mom, he put his hands on me,’ and I said, ‘who?’ and he said, ‘the bus driver,’ said Wynne.
11-year-old Owen Lacy usually gets on the bus at 7. But Tuesday, 10 minutes after he got on, he was off.
"He says that when he was getting on the bus, he had his phone and his bag of chips in his hand. He hadn't had time to put them in his bag yet, he grabbed them on the way out the door," Wynne said. "He said that the bus driver immediately said you can’t have those on the bus, he said, ‘yes sir, I am going to put them in my backpack,’ and I guess the bus driver reached for them and Owen pulled back, and then the bus driver grabbed Owen by the wrist, forcefully threw them away and my son got an attitude, and he said, ‘do you want to go home?’"
So Owen said yes, and was dropped off near 4th and 5th streets near Jackson Road in Bacliff.
However, his mother only knows what she says because of a Facebook post from a neighbor who saw him get off away from the stop.
"We don’t live in a good area," Wynne said. "So we do live on a quiet street here, but the area is filled with predators, and they are documented predators."
So we reached out to Dickinson ISD to provide an update on the bus driver. They told us in a statement: "Dickinson ISD is aware of an incident that occurred on September 24 involving a student and a bus driver. We are fully cooperating with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Department as they conduct their investigation. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority," said Tammy Dowdy, Director of Communications.
For now, Lindsey Wynne says her son will continue to ride. But from now on, she wants him to come home with a smile on his face.
"I feel like we need to know if he is still going to be employed, and if he is going to be around young children. I mean he is around them all day, every day, on the bus, so if he can't compose himself or keep his hands to himself, it's bound to happen again," said Wynne.
The Galveston County sheriff says the bus driver will be cited and charged with a Class C Misdemeanor, assault by contact.