Clayton, NJ school bus driver charged with driving 23 kids while drunk

🚍 School bus driver hit with DUI

🚍 Police find 23 children on school bus

🚍 Boyfriend reportedly called 911

CLAYTON — A school bus driver is accused of taking nearly two dozen children to school while under the influence of alcohol.

Suzanne Stoms, 48, is charged with child endangerment. Clayton police also issued several traffic summonses including drunk driving, DUI with minor passengers, DUI with a commercial driver's license, and reckless driving.

She was arrested Friday morning.

"She endangered our children and this was likely not the first time. We will never know how many times she drove our babies drunk!!!! I am outraged," said one parent on Facebook.

Police find 23 children on school bus

The Clayton police got a tip around 9:10 a.m. Friday a bus on the way to Herma Simmons Elementary School was being driven by a person under the influence of alcohol.

Officers found the bus near the corner of Franklin Street and Poe Avenue.

There were 23 children on the school bus. They were safely taken to school by the Delsea Transportation Office.

Stoms was given a field sobriety test and failed, police said. She later took a breathalyzer test and tested above 0.04% BAC, the legal limit for a driver with a CDL.

Boyfriend reportedly called 911

Stoms boyfriend said to 6abc that he called the police hoping to get her girlfriend help for drinking. He didn't intend for her to get arrested, according to the report.

Clayton schools Superintendent Nikolaus Koutsogiannis said in a message to parents that Stoms has been fired.

"Due to the fact that this is an ongoing investigation, I am unable to share any additional information. I want to apologize for the behavior of this employee. The safety of students and staff is always a top priority for our school district," Koutsogiannis said.

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