Welcome to Arrest Stories. A fifty-one-year-old substitute school bus driver in Cartersville faces multiple charges after allegedly driving under the influence with twenty-nine students aboard, prompting terrified calls for help from teenagers fearing for their lives. Here's what may have happened.
On September nineteenth, what started as a routine afternoon school route turned into a nightmare scenario between three forty-two and three forty-nine PM along Georgia Highway four-eleven and the Burnt Hickory Connector. Lori Hagaman, working as a substitute bus driver, allegedly began driving erratically while transporting twenty-nine students home from school.
According to police reports, Hagaman repeatedly failed to maintain her lane of travel and appeared unresponsive to students desperately trying to get her attention. The situation became so alarming that a fifteen-year-old student called his mother from the bus, with audio revealing the panic in his voice: "We're on the school bus. I think our bus driver is going crazy or something. She's all over the road. She almost hit a ditch, and she almost hit a car."
The terror escalated as the student continued: "She's going to hit the rail. We're going to wreck." Multiple nine-one-one calls flooded in just before four PM reporting concerns about the bus driver's dangerous behavior.
When officers arrived, they discovered an open container of what appeared to be wine in a cup holder within the driver's area. Hagaman allegedly failed multiple field sobriety tests and kept falling over during the assessment. Police described her as appearing confused throughout the encounter.
School district officials responded swiftly to the incident. "The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority, and we do not tolerate any behavior that compromises that commitment," officials stated. "We recognize the seriousness of this situation and share in your concern."
Hagaman was arrested and charged with reckless conduct, reckless driving, and open container violations. Bond was set at thirty thousand two hundred dollars.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.