5-year-old left on bus in north-central Minn.
Police are investigating why a 5-year-old kindergarten student was left on his bus and not dropped off at a Baxter school. The bus driver was later fired.
Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said the boy was found unharmed in the bus at the Cass County home of the bus driver.
Exsted said the boy had been on the bus for about two hours.
The 44-year-old bus driver, from rural Pillager, was arrested later Wednesday on probable cause of gross misdemeanor DWI.
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At 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, police received a call from a parent of the 5-year-old, who said their son had been picked up by the bus but had not been dropped off at Family of Christ Lutheran School.
The parent also notified Reichert Bus Service, which handles the route, and school staffers.
A short time later the boy was located at the bus driver's home and reunited with his father, police said.
Mark Moran, of Reichert Bus Service, said the Family of Christ Lutheran School is the last stop on the bus route and the boy was the only student from that school on the bus.
"It was the driver's belief that no one was on the bus at that time," Moran said. "The driver failed to follow protocol and the child was found and delivered to the parent."
Moran said the bus driver was immediately fired.
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(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)