A School City of Hammond school bus driver and bus aide are facing criminal charges after the aide allegedly “manhandled” a 6-year-old girl with autism while trying to get her harness strapped into a seat.
The child was left with a bump and a scratch.
The driver, Tammy Allenbaugh, 62, and aide, Linda Verduzco, 85, were each charged Wednesday with battery resulting in bodily injury to a disabled person, battery resulting in bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, battery against a disabled person, battery on a person less than 14 years old and neglect of a dependent.
A representative from the School City of Hammond did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Court records show Allenbaugh was placed on administrative leave. Verduzco, a former certified nursing assistant hired in January, was fired.
Allenbaugh posted a $6,000 bond Thursday. Verduzco has not been apprehended after she was charged. She is ordered held on a $6,000 cash bond.
At first, Allenbaugh told an Indiana Department of Child Services investigator that she didn’t see what happened.
The incident was captured on school bus cameras around 2:45 p.m. Feb. 18.
A charging affidavit states that the girl was on a special education bus headed home from Frank O’Bannon Elementary School. The bus made three stops twice a day.
On camera, the girl grabs seatbelts as Verduzco pulls her by her harness to her seat. About halfway back, Verduzco has to drag her back.
“Stop that right now,” Allenbaugh tells the child.
Verduzco pulls the child’s backpack from her, causing her to cry. As she struggles to get the child strapped in, Verduzco shoves her into a seat corner. An audible “thump” is heard.
“I’m sorry,” the child says.
“No, you’re not,” Verduzco responds.
As the child struggled against the harness, Verduzco pressed her elbow into the girl’s neck, charges allege.
Verduzco sat down and elbowed the child twice in the chest during the ride home. Later on, she appears to have the child in a headlock.
The girl appears to be “smacking” and “kicking” at Verduzco.
The bus driver comes back and films the girl’s behavior with her cellphone.
Do we have to take her back to school, Verduzco asks. Can we drop her off in an alley, she said, before laughing, according to the affidavit.
The bus driver got off and showed the mother her video, without mentioning Verduzco, the mother later said. In the video, the mother is seen getting the girl off the bus and reprimanding the child.
School officials later told her to file a police report after DCS contacted her on Feb. 20.
She admitted her daughter could be “rowdy” sometimes. The school’s principal called her, saying the child had a “bad day” on Feb. 18, was “very disruptive” and would be “suspended for several days.” He then asked about the scratches.
When police later went to arrest Verduzco, she asked if it was for the “little girl.” Defendants are released in 48 hours if they are not charged within that timeframe.
She told investigators on Feb 25 that she worked at St. Margaret Mercy for nearly 30 years. That afternoon, the child had lost a hat.
On the bus, she “resisted” getting strapped in, Verduzco said. She “denied” intentionally hurting the girl. The video was “horrible” and “embarrassing.”
She didn’t remember elbowing the girl or putting her in a headlock. She said the alley remark — if she made it — was a joke. She claimed the girl kicked her and cursed at her.
She didn’t write a report because she didn’t want the “sweet” and “beautiful” girl to get in trouble.
Verduzco said she was a “Christian woman,” the video was “embarrassing,” and the child cursed at her and made an obscene gesture, charges state. She “blamed those behaviors on (the girl’s) family,” according to the affidavit.
mcolias@post-trib.com
