Police slapped a Skokie bus driver with a DUI after he apparently drove under the influence of drugs, terrifying a score of seventh graders who were yelling out the windows for help.
"The children had their heads partially out the window and were screaming," said the parent of a seventh-grader who did not want to be identified. "It was just terrible. Police were yelling for him to stop."
Brian Skoglund, 40, of 5030 Farwell in Skokie is cheduled to appear in court on Oct. 27. He works for First Student Bus Co. in Northbrook, police said.
Police said shortly before 4 p.m. on Sept. 17, a driver notified them that a bus heading south on the Edens was driving erratically, including swerving lanes, slowing down and speeding up. The driver told police he then saw the driver with his head down on the steering wheel as if he were sleeping.
Police said there were 41 children from Solomon Schechter on the bus being shuttled from the Northbrook campus at 3210 Dundee Rd. to the Skokie campus at 9301 Gross Point Rd. This is a regular route, police said. The children were in seventh grade, aged 11 and 12.
Each of the children was regarded as a victim of child endangerment, police said, which accounts for the 41 counts charged against the bus driver.
