School Bus Driver Revived With Narcan After Newark Crash: Police – Newark, NJ Patch

NEWARK, NJ — A school bus driver was revived with Narcan and later arrested after a crash in Newark on Wednesday. Although several children were aboard the vehicle at the time, none were hurt, police said.

The crash took place at 1:10 p.m. when Lisa Byrd, 57, of Newark, was driving a bus with 12 children from 14th Avenue School, all between the ages of 5 and 13, according to the Newark Department of Public Safety.

After the bus crashed into a tree near 14th Avenue and Jones Street, emergency responders treated Byrd with Narcan, a drug that reverses opiate overdoses. She was transported to University Hospital for treatment and later arrested, police said.

None of the students were injured in the crash, authorities said.

Newark authorities later identified Byrd as a driver with F & A Transport in East Orange. She was charged with 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, driving while impaired and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A spokesperson for the Newark Public School District provided Patch with a statement about the incident on Thursday afternoon:

“A private bus vendor, F and A Transportation, was transporting Newark Public School children yesterday afternoon from 14th Avenue School home. Students on the bus were picked up from the school at approximately 1 p.m. Approximately five minutes later, the driver of the bus was involved in an accident. No student injuries were sustained in the accident. All students on the bus were transported to a nearby hospital, where they were evaluated and released. Immediately following the accident, the Newark Board of Education suspended F and A Transportation from providing the 14th Avenue bus route, which is being operated by the Newark Board of Education until an investigation has been completed. The driver of the bus is employed by F and A Transportation, not the Newark Board of Education. We will continue our investigation into F and A Transportation until its conclusion.”

F and A will continue all other routes with the Newark Public School District at this time. The only route discontinued is the 1 route for the special needs students at 14th Avenue, NPS administrators added.

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