September 07, 2016
A Berks County kindergartener had eventful first day of school, in one sense of the word. He didn't make it to class on Wednesday because a bus driver in Amity Township left him on the bus alone for four hours.
According to WFMZ-TV, little Prince Oquendo was picked up at 8:17 a.m. by a bus from New Rhoads Transportation, bound for Monocacy Elementary Center in the Daniel Boone Area School District.
At the end of the day, when another bus returned to Prince's stop, his mother panicked when he was nowhere to be found. He'd been sitting in bus #93 in the company's parking lot all day, reportedly crying himself to sleep a few times.
Wednesday's midday temperature in Amity was 85 degrees. The boy was later reunited with his mom and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for dehydration.
The owner of the bus company said that when Prince was discovered, the boy asked if he could please go to kindergarten. A review of surveillance footage showed the driver, who has been terminated, failed to check the bus for any remaining children, as required by company protocol.
The incident remains under investigation by Amity Township police.
