‘He could have died’: North Carolina School bus driver faces criminal charges after dragging and running over a 12-year-old boy
- Zion Baker, 12, was stepping off a school bus in Moore County, North Carolina on Wednesday when his book bag got caught in the vehicle’s doors
- The unidentified bus driver hit the gas without realizing Baker was trapped, dragging the child 10 feet before he could free himself from his back pack
- Baker fell to the ground before the bus’s back tire ran over his wrist
- Police said the driver has been charged with careless and reckless driving
- The school district said ‘the employee is not currently driving a bus’
Zion Baker, 12, is lucky to be alive after getting dragged and ran over by a school bus as he was getting off on Wednesday
A 12-year-old North Carolina boy is lucky to be alive this week after getting dragged and ran over by a school bus as he was getting off to go home on Wednesday.
The bus’s unidentified driver has been charged with careless and reckless driving in the aftermath of the incident that left the child’s mother furious.
‘He could have died,’ Serena Thomas told WTVD-TV about what happened to her son, Zion Baker.
The grade-schooler was stepping off the bus at the intersection of American Road and Walker Street in Moore County, North Carolina near Raleigh Wednesday afternoon when the bus doors closed on the backpack he was wearing.
Two school girls he was riding had already made it off the bus and crossed the street, but the bus driver was reportedly unaware one of her passengers was now trapped and dangling from the side of the vehicle.
The grade-schooler was stepping off the bus at the intersection of American Road and Walker Street in Moore County, North Carolina near Raleigh Wednesday afternoon when the bus doors closed on the backpack he was wearing
Zion fell to the ground before one of the bus’s rear tires ran over his wrist. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released for minor injuries
Baker was dragged roughly 10 feet before he could free himself from his book bag.
He fell to the ground before one of the bus’s rear tires ran over his wrist.
‘She pulled away and it drug me, and I fell,” Zion told WTVD. ‘It hurt really bad, there were tire marks on my arm. My veins turned red.’
He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released for minor injuries.
Zion’s mother, Serena Thomas (pictured) was angry with the bus driver, saying her son ‘could have died’ because the driver wasn’t paying attention
Thomas said she doesn’t think the bus driver intentionally ran over her son, but she does think the driver was negligent
Moore County Schools releasing a statement saying the bus driver ‘is not currently driving a bus,’ declining to elaborate further.
Zion’s mother said she doesn’t think the bus driver intentionally ran over her son, but she does think the driver was negligent.
‘You should’ve just watched the kids, you watched the other little girls,’ she said. ‘You don’t get paid for thinking. You said you thought all the kids made it over safe, but you never verified if Zion made it over safe.’