TRAPPE, MARYLAND (11/19/2015) A commercial bus driver from Delaware transporting school children back from a field trip was arrested Wednesday night by Maryland State Police and charged with driving under the influence, authorities said.
Joseph R. Johnson, 45, of Dover, was taken into custody after police said they received a 911 tip from someone following the bus on U.S. 50 in Talbot County, reporting that the bus was weaving all over the road.
As troopers were en route, a parent chaperone on the bus also called police, saying the adults aboard had insisted the driver stop on the shoulder of the four-lane highway due to his erratic driving.
Police said Johnson stopped the bus, owned by Dawson Tour Bus Services of Camden, Delaware, on eastbound U.S. 50 west of Porpoise Creek Road in Trappe.
A trooper took Johnson into custody and after testing he was charged with DUI. Police said they don’t release blood-alcohol test results before trial.
The bus had been carrying 30 children and ten adults from Bennett Middle School in Wicomico County who were returning from a field trip to Calvert Cliffs.
Police said the bus company sent a sober driver to complete the trip. A trooper treated those aboard to pizza while they were waiting.
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