Woman locked in bus luggage bin — NJ driver no longer charged

VERNON, Conn. — The lawyer for a New Jersey bus driver who had been charged with locking a passenger in the vehicle's luggage compartment says the criminal case has been dropped.

Attorney Nate Baber tells The Boston Globe that Wendy Alberty is no longer facing reckless endangerment, unlawful restraint, and breach of peace charges.

The 49-year-old New Jersey woman was charged after Connecticut State Police received a 911 call Aug. 4 from a New York woman who said she was locked inside the compartment of the Peter Ban bus while retrieving items from her bag.

Police found the woman when they pulled the bus over in Union, Connecticut.

Baber said his client's actions were unintentional. Springfield, Massachusetts-based Peter Pan called Alberty an "exemplary" employee. A company official said he did not think Alberty acted intentionally.

The New York Post reports the bus was a from the private Peter Pan company.

According to the Post report, in a 911 call, the passenger said she was "under the bus with the luggage and I’m afraid. I don’t know if she’s ever … I’m afraid. Nobody knows where I am.”

It says State Police tracked down the bus and found the passenger, a 32-year-old New Yorker, in the bin. The passenger told police she thought she had been purposely locked in, the Post report says.

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