Says entire incident has been 'humiliating'
The 73-year-old father, grandfather and great-grandfather said on Tuesday that he joined in the tots’ make-believe games. He played Spider-Man and Iron Man. Jones raced around and even climbed trees with the children as their parents watched.
On Monday, Jones brought a broken, toy submachine gun to work, he said during an interview. He figured the toy would thrill the youngsters who he said shot cap pistols during their play. Jones thought one of the kids might even want to keep the toy Tommy gun purchased as part of a Halloween party costume held in October for Jones’ 92-year-old mother.
But the toy was broken and even the rat-a-tat-tat noise it still made didn’t captivate the children.
So, when it was time for his 2:50 p.m. run, Jones stowed the gun under his bus driver seat and turned his mind to getting students home. That decision has led to a summary offense citation against Jones and the loss of his job at Rohrer Bus Co.
More than halfway through his run, Jones said, a bus dispatcher asked him to stop in a bus lot off Progress Avenue.
Police were waiting for him.
They said a student had made a 4 p.m. call to her home school district — Susquehanna Township — and told administrators and a school resource officer that Jones had a gun.
Jones told them the gun was a toy. He said he was surprised when officers told him he wasn’t permitted to have a toy gun on the bus. Officers patted him down then told Jones to get back on the bus and retrieve the gun. Jones said he pulled the black, plastic toy from its spot beneath his seat.
Another driver then completed the run while Jones talked to police. It isn’t known whether students stayed on the bus during the stop for police or whether they were transferred to another bus.
Susquehanna Township Police Chief Rob Martin said Jones handed over the toy without a problem.
Lower Paxton Township Police, which handled the case, said Jones is charged with disorderly conduct.
“We looked at additional charges and none of them fit,” Lower Paxton Lt. Gary Seefeldt said Tuesday during a news conference.
Susquehanna Township School Superintendent Susan Kegerise said students exhibited calm courage and did the right thing by calling officials.
Neither she nor Technical School Principal Jon Fox could describe students’ state when reporters asked if students were traumatized or sought counseling. They couldn’t say how many students were on the bus.
Kegerise said there haven’t been serious discipline issues with the bus Jones drove. There were no problem students on the bus that she knew of. Kegerise said bus rides are unstructured time for students so rides can get loud, and driving requires patience.
On Tuesday, Jones repeatedly rubbed his eyes and forehead as he discussed the incident.
As his wife addressed Christmas cards on the living room sofa in their Susquehanna Township home, the retired physicians’ assistant said he takes responsibility for using poor judgment. He shouldn’t have taken the toy gun on the bus.
But he was stunned at the reaction.
“The whole thing was humiliating for me. I got frisked,” said Jones, who said he has never been charged with a crime.
He said he suspects the student who called officials was a girl who saw him climb onto the bus with the toy gun. She asked him what he was doing with it and he made a joke about using it to keep kids in line. She was a student Jones said he had previously written up for misbehaving on the bus.
Then, Jones put the toy gun under his seat. No other students were present, he said.
“If she thought that gun was real, she wouldn’t have gotten on the bus,” Jones said.
Still, Jones said he turned in his bus keys Tuesday. He didn’t arrive for his morning run at 5 a.m., knowing that he likely wouldn’t have a job, he said. Employer Rohrer Bus Co. hasn’t contacted Jones, he said.
Jones said the economy forced him to work part-time after retiring from a career with military veteran and pediatrics patients. He has been driving a bus for three years and said the bus route is a tough one that has prompted other drivers to quit. Students spit and scatter trash on the floor of the back of the bus and have thrown pens and calculators at one another. Sometimes they’re disrespectful.
And Jones has heard stories about students bullying bus drivers, including the June incident in New York when a 68-year-old driver was verbally abused by middle school students.
But that didn’t play any part in the Monday incident, Jones said.
Source: Patriot News
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