School bus driver caught drunk

Police say a Cumberland County school bus driver was drunk while driving 18 middle school students Friday afternoon.

Charles Wynn, 49, of the 1800 block of Windlock Drive, was driving a bus from Lewis Chapel Middle School when it was rear-ended by a Ford Expedition on Pritchett Road at 2:49 p.m, authorizes say.

Police did a breath test on Wynn at the scene and found his blood alcohol level to be 0.2, more than two times the legal limit of 0.08. The test was given at the scene because Wynn smelled of alcohol, according to arrest papers.

The bus driver blew a 0.18 at the jail when he was processed, according to court documents.

Wynn was charged with driving while subject to an impairing substance, operating a school bus after consuming alcohol and driving while impaired while operating a commercial vehicle, according to police. He spent Friday night in jail on $3,000 secure bond.

Al Miller, assistant director of transportation for the Cumberland County school system, said 18 students were on the bus. Two students were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center with complaints of discomfort, Miller said. Three were taken by their parents to be checked out, Miller said, although none had any visible injuries.

Police released the remaining children into the custody of their parents before school system staff arrived on the scene, Miller said.

The driver of the Expedition that hit the school bus also was charged. Travis Hunter, 29, of the 6600 block of Flintshire Road, was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and operating a vehicle with a revoked license, according to Fayetteville police.

Superintendent Frank Till said the county has zero tolerance for the behavior of which the bus driver is accused. Till said Wynn was a substitute bus driver for the county. He also is a custodian at Seventy-First High School.

Till said Wynn's job status will be reviewed.

"Clearly, the person was wrong for this," Till said. "If the police hadn't caught him, we would have under our procedures," meaning the systems random drug screenings, Till said.

Till and Miller could not say how long Wynn had been driving school buses for the count