PGPD Charges Bus Driver After School Bus Collision

Arturo Harris

The Prince George’s County Police Department this morning arrested a Prince George’s County Public Schools bus driver after a school bus collision in Beltsville. The driver is identified as 61-year-old Arturo Roberto Harris, of the 6900 block of Northgate Parkway in Clinton.

On April 7, 2014, at about 7:15 am, patrol officers were called to the 3600 block of Powder Mill Road for a collision involving a school bus.  The preliminary investigation reveals the bus had four students on board but no driver.  Investigators believe the driver had parked the bus near High Point High School, and then briefly left the bus unattended.  For reasons still unknown, the bus began to cross Powder Mill Road. The bus struck a small child, who was standing on the corner of Powder Mill Road and Glen Shell Road, before coming to rest.

A Baltimore County auxiliary police officer who witnessed the accident rushed to the scene to help.  He pulled the small child from underneath the bus and stayed with him until paramedics arrived.  The four students on the bus at the time of the accident went to the hospital with minor injuries. 

Harris faces charges of reckless endangerment, leaving a child unattended, and several traffic charges related to the accident.  All five children are now out of the hospital.

For more information, please contact the Prince George’s County Police Department’s Media Relations Division at 301-772-4710.