A Missouri school bus driver was arrested and fired after video showed him allegedly punching and throttling a seventh-grader, leaving the young student with cuts and bruises to his face and neck.
Scott Robert Livingston, 67, was charged with misdemeanor assault for the attack he blamed on being “irritated” at the middle schooler having “mouthed off” to him on the bus last Thursday, according to court documents obtained by Fox 4 KC.
“Sit down or I’m going to beat your ass,” he yelled at the boy, who was seen in the video being pinned to a seat and repeatedly hit and even throttled, according to the court docs.
Livingston initially locked the doors and drove away when a school security officer ordered him off the bus. The substitute driver later told cops he was “trying to scare” the boy, “not hurt him,” according to the documents.
But the boy, Zachary Carrel, was left with cuts on his face and bruises on his neck, his outraged family told KCTV.
“He was helpless, there was nothing he could do,” Carrel’s mother, Nicole Danna,told KCTV.
“He had a grown man on top of him, choking him and punching him repeatedly in the face.
“No child should have to go through that.”
The incident began shortly after dismissal from Heritage Middle School in Liberty when Carrel says he was joking around with friends while boarding the bus home. Livingston told cops he grew “irritated” at being “mouthed off,” the documents say.
After the driver shouted, “Sit down or I’m going to beat your ass,” the boy replied, “You can’t touch me,” according to the court documents.
Livingston then marched to the back of the bus, which was still parked on school property, and grabbed the young pupil.
Carrel pleaded with the driver to “get your f–king hands off me,” but Livingston instead put his hands around Carrel’s neck and started squeezing, the court documents allege.
The boy managed to push Livingston into the seat opposite from him, but Livingston recovered and flipped the student upside down, repeatedly pummeling him, the docs said.
Police said the pupil was able to hold onto Livingston until a district security officer arrived.
The driver then closed the door and drove off with the children, before being stopped by police about a mile away after students called 911, according to Fox 4.
When the doors opened, the students ran off crying and screaming, the local outlet reports.
Livingston has since pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor assault charges, and was released on bond.
He has also been fired from the Liberty School District, which said in a statement that “the safety of our students while at school, or in this case on the school bus, is our top priority.”
“We are sorry that this incident took place, for not only the student involved, but also the other students that were present on the bus and witnessed the incident,” principal Reagan Allegri wrote in a letter to parents obtained by Fox 4.
“Our team has provided regular check-ins with the students who were present on the bus yesterday afternoon to ensure they are doing OK here at school today,” he wrote on Friday.
Carrel’s family said he is now reluctant to take the bus, and is demanding more stringent background checks.
“Every kid’s life is in their hands whenever they get on the bus, so just do more of a background check because you want to know who your kids are riding with,” father Brad Carrel told KCTV.
“You want them to be safe, no matter what.”
WATCH THE SHOCKING VIDEO BELOW:
How could that driver plead not guilty? He was clearly in the wrong for ever touching the boy Yes firing the driver is a good first step, but he needs jail time too, for assault. And yes, some of the blame attaches to the boy’s parents for not teaching respect. Maybe some parenting classes could help them.
Sorry, I gotta stand with the bus driver on this one. These kids smarting off like they’re adults? I’d have given that kid much more than a lightweight asswhooping!
Legally the bus driver was in the wrong for even touching the boy.
Yes, the boy needs some serious education about that smart mouth of his, but that is not a bus driver’s job. The father and/or mother need to do this, perhaps with help from a child psychologist.
Me too. These mouthy ass kids need their ass whipped.
If you would have given this young man more PLEASE never BECOME a BUS DRIVER!!!
If I had been that bus driver, I would have booted the kid for his smart mouth. Told him call one of his parents for a ride home or walk. No bus privileges for a week. Second offense no bus privileges for a month. Third offense, no bus privileges for the year.
this little snot nose smart ass its pretty clear that is father did not take him to the wood shed a time or two , he needs a good ass whipping , but not on a bus with other kids on board !
You are probably 100% right, but the driver was out of line physically attacking that young kid IN FRONT OF A BUS LOAD OF KIDS! Not only did the bus driver hurt the mouthy kid, but he gave most of those kids nightmares for a week!! And the parents of that mouthy kid can now sue not only the bus driver but the school for allowing someone who has no business being around young mouthy kids to drive a bus load of students!
I used to teach Special Ed kids so I know how mouthy young teens can get and how smart they think they are. I dealt with kids this age every day at school and I learned how to talk to them without getting angry — after all, they are just young kids with smart mouths! But I never had to restrain any of my students (had high schoolers too that were well over 6 ft. tall)! Once we learned to respect each other and listen, not judge the other guy, everyone grew in a happier place — including their teacher, me!
Yes, today’s kids are NOT getting a decent education from the public school teachers any more, but are getting Political agendas and little to no courses in Math, Spelling, Grammar, or History. Our kids today are having political ideologies pushed in their faces that will destroy many of these innocent kids. But if you ask them a simple question like what is 7 times 7, they do not know. Or what city is the Philadelphia Courthouse located? They have no clue! These are the students of Progressive teachers who have taught them no survival skills to work in Society, only political ideologies!
So now you know why we have kids walking around being disrespectful and rude. Unfortunately, even their parents didn’t teach them any survival skills either! For all these lost kids, perhaps a few years in the Military might help them to survive better as well as teach them the discipline both their teachers and parents never thought to do!
What the driver did was absolutely wrong but the children today have no respect at all for their elders.
Maybe the boys parents are the real failure here. Kids nowadays have no respect for anyone or even themselves.
Spanking would be Ok, but strangling- NO.
Woke society has done this!
I bet the little shit deserved it, but in this Society where babies as young as 6 months know they want to be the opposite sex, but 11 year olds are to young to know they are doing wrong, I expected the blame going to the man.
The last two comments show a complete disregard for the young person being accosted by this bus driver. Yes, kids mouth off, but that does not give this adult a legal right to beat the kid up. Sammy and R.J. need to re-think their position. Yes, kids today are liberal in the way they act and obviously have a liberal worldview; yes, their parents should teach them better to respect adults, but these underlying problems should not give the adult bus driver the right to take his irritation out on a minor. This video is absolutely shocking and heart rending. The parents should sue the driver immediately and the school system for not protecting the student.
…the parent’s failure to properly raise their child should be the crime. If I could I would donate to the driver’s legal fees. It’s not that I approve of beating children….but this smart-ass was old enough to mouth off and claim…”you can’t touch me”! I guess that wasn’t very accurate…eh?
I taught art classes til I was 67. my students were awesome and I loved them. High School. Went back as a substitute teacher next year and was shocked at the sassy talk. Most of the students were fine but I was stunned by some behavior of some kids. Been 16 years ago. What are they like now?
The little sh-t probably deserved it…
I have to agree with you. I was a teacher years ago and am very shocked at the students behavior. With their parents also.