A Boulder school bus driver was arrested this morning after his bus, with 17 students on board, jumped a curb and ran up onto a sidewalk.
None of the students, who were being taken to Boulder High School, were injured.
Police suspect the bus driver, Robert Lecy, 62, of being under the influence of drugs when the accident happened.
“Based on his mannerisms and demeanor when speaking to officers” the driver was arrested on suspicion of careless driving and driving under the influence of drugs, said Sarah Huntley, a Boulder Police Department spokeswoman.
The accident happened at about 7:10 a.m. at the intersection of 17th Street and Canyon Boulevard, just a few blocks from Boulder High School, Huntley said.
Students on the bus were taken to school after the accident, said Briggs Gamblin, a spokesman with the Boulder Valley School District.
“We’re very concerned,” Gamblin said.
The school district runs “extensive checks” on drivers including “periodic testing,” Gamblin said.
The school district will do an “internal investigation” into the incident, he said.
Lecy was taken to the Boulder jail after the incident.
“He gave us an excuse as to why he thinks he was impaired,” Huntley said, but she wouldn’t elaborate on what it was.
Investigators are awaiting tests results to determine whether Lecy was under the influence of prescribed drugs or illegal drugs, Huntley said.
Either way, “officers felt it was unsafe for him to be behind the wheel,” Huntley said.
She added: “Fortunately we didn’t have any injuries.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
