iStock/DavidPrahl(LONGVIEW, Washington) — Newly released video shows a school bus full of terrified children shortly before the driver was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated in Washington state.
Catherine L. Maccarone, 48, was arrested on Sept. 12 after a Longview Public Schools student called 911 to report that he suspected she was driving drunk, according to a statement from the Longview Police Department.
Hours of footage from the bus obtained by “Good Morning America” shows children screaming as Maccarone drives erratically.
At some points in the video, Maccarone could be heard yelling and rambling incoherently, the video shows.
“I am crazy,” she told students. “I’m totally crazy.”
The male student called emergency dispatchers after he was dropped off, telling them that Maccarone drove through three red lights with students still on board. He described Maccarone as “wobbling” and said he could tell in “her eyes” that “she was drunk,” according to the 911 call.
When police officers pulled the bus over, they “smelled an obvious odor of intoxicants coming from Maccarone,” according to the police statement. She was then arrested for driving under the influence and reckless endangerment.
Although there were no more children on the bus when Maccarone was arrested, she had completed two bus routes that afternoon, police said. Up to 90 children may have been on the bus that day, the district’s communications coordinator, Rick Parrish, told ABC News earlier this month.
Maccarone was first placed on paid leave while an investigation was launched.
The school district’s board of directors has since accepted Maccarone’s resignation, according to an announcement released Friday.
“The safety and security of students and staff is a top priority at Longview Schools,” Superintendent Dan Zorn said in the statement. “Putting our students at risk with irresponsible behavior will not be tolerated.”
The district has also implemented a new safety procedure to improve the process for screening bus drivers prior to them beginning their routes.
Maccarone will appear in court on Oct. 15. ABC News could not reach her or her public defender for comment.
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