Charges- Minnesota School Bus Driver BAC Tested at 4X Legal Limit

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Rush City, MN (KROC-AM News) - The charges filed against a Minnesota school bus driver allege her blood-alcohol-concentration was well over double the legal limit for driving any vehicle.

59-year-old Kara Ffrench of Harris was arraigned today in Chisago County Court on two gross misdemeanor counts of DWI involving a commercial vehicle and a school bus. The criminal complaint states a preliminary breath test measured her BAC at nearly .2 and another test that was later administered at the Chisago County Sheriff's Office put her at .17, which is more than four times above the legal limit for driving commercial vehicles.

Ffrench was arrested Thursday morning after Chisago County deputies responded to a report that a school bus transporting students in the Rush City School District had gone off the road and was stuck in a yard next to a farm field. Court documents indicate there were 45 students on the bus at about two-thirds of them were elementary age.

While speaking to the bus driver, the criminal complaint says a Chisago County Sheriff's Sergeant detected a strong odor of alcohol on her breath and noticed other signs of impairment. She was in possession of an insulated coffee mug and the law officer reported that it "smelled of coffee with some kind of alcoholic beverage added."

Another school bus was dispatched to the scene and transported the students to school. Court documents say the emergency responders at the scene reported that it appeared none of them had been injured.

A search of Minnesota Court records did not find any previous convictions for Ffench, who is scheduled to return to court for an omnibus hearing in May.

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