Florida bus driver transporting students suspected of DUI
SEBRING, Fla. (WFLA) — The newly released 911 call captured the moment Sebring, Florida, parents sprang into action to stop a bus driver suspected of driving under the influence while transporting their teenagers on a graduation trip Saturday.
The driver, 55-year-old Keith Shifflett, was transporting a group of 30 students and six adult chaperones from Daytona Lagoon, an amusement park in Daytona Beach.
Parents on the bus said he drove through multiple red lights and refused to stop the bus at the behest of the passengers.
“There’s something wrong with our bus driver,” a concerned mother said to the 911 dispatcher. “He’s not being responsive and he’s not stopping the bus and he’s ran through a couple red [lights]…”
“He sounds like he’s under the influence,” the woman says later in the call. Shortly after, parents on the bus can be heard panicking, yelling at Keith Shifflett and imploring him to stop the bus.
The bus stopped after Gissel and Freddie Diaz, whose daughter was on the bus, got in front of the vehicle with their car and began to brake, causing Shifflett to stop the bus behind their vehicle.
Shifflett was charged with DUI, child abuse without great bodily harm, and culpable negligence in connection with the incident, according to the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.
Shifflett’s bond was set to $80,000.