Kara Ffrench
RUSH CITY, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – A Rush City school bus driver suspected of being drunk behind the wheel when she drove 49 students into a ditch Thursday is now formally charged with DWI.
Kara Ffrench, 59, of Harris, Minnesota made her first court appearance in Chisago County District Court Friday. The criminal complaint says Ffrench had a blood alcohol level of 0.17 when she was tested following the accident.
The legal limit for driving a commercial vehicle, like a school bus, is 0.04.
Ffrench has been released from jail, but must abstain from alcohol and comply with electronic home alcohol monitoring.
Captain Derek Anklan says it happened near Rush City and they got a report that a public school bus had veered off the roadway. He says deputies arrived within minutes to the scene and reported observing signs of alcohol impairment in the driver. She was given a field sobriety test which she failed, and claimed she failed to “find the brake.” Deputies also smelled alcohol in a coffee container.
“There are specific statutes that are directed towards school bus operation,” Anlan says. “There are specific statutes in regards to it’s a commercial vehicle, and then specific statutes to what we call an aggravating factor, that have to do with children.”
A backup bus arrived and all the students involved were safely brought to school. Nobody was injured.
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