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Video shows school bus driver drinking beer while picking up students, police say

Posted at 7:27 PM, Nov 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-26 19:27:36-05

AURORA, Ill. (WGN) — A school bus driver is facing charges after video appears to show her drinking alcohol while picking up students.

Police said video shows Michelle Passley buying two beers at a gas station in Aurora on Nov. 15 while she was on her morning school bus route.

The cameras inside the bus show her take the cans of beer and put them in brown bags and drink from the cans. Thirty-two children were on board the bus at the time.

Police said after getting a call from a concerned gas station clerk, the district called the bus company who fired the 44-year-old.

The police were called later on and shown the video. Passley was then arrested and charged with two Class A misdemeanors for endangering the life and health of a child.

It is unknown if she was legally intoxicated when she was driving because the police were not called immediately.

No children were harmed.

Passley posted a $100 bond on Monday. She is due back in court at the end of December.