Intoxicated School Bus Driver Had 30 Students on Board, Cops Say

BERKELEY — A driver was removed from his school bus and charged with driving while intoxicated after he left the Clara B. Worth Elementary School with 30 children on Thursday afternoon.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said staff noticed Anthony Rodriguez, 64,  "acting erratically" as he arrived at the school in the Bayville section of the township about 2:30 p.m.

As staff called police, the children boarded the bus and Rodriguez left the school, according to the prosecutor. Billhimer said the bus was stopped by police about a mile from the school and the children were transferred to another bus to continue their trip home.

The prosecutor did not say whether staff at the school attempted to stop the bus from leaving the school.

Billhimer said police determined that Rodriguez, a resident of South Toms River, was under the influence of alcohol or an intoxicating substance and arrested him.

Rodriguez refused to take a breath test and a warrant was obtained to determine Rodriguez’s blood alcohol content by way of a lab test, the prosecutor said. Billhimer said the results are pending.

Rodriquez is being held at the Ocean County Jail on charges of endangering the welfare of a child, driving while intoxicated, refusing to provide a breath sample, driving while intoxicated in a school zone and reckless driving.