Father Charged For Nearly Causing Bus Crash

Friday, March 30, 2012 at 7:29 AM

(Mount Carmel, Ind.) - A Franklin County man who played chicken with a school bus is slapped with 36 counts of Criminal Recklessness.

The Brookville American-Democrat reports Raymond Baker, 53, became upset when the school bus did not pick up his two children at their home on February 27.

Baker drove and chased the bus down on Johnson Fork Road in Mount Carmel. He allegedly drove head-on towards the bus, causing the bus driver to swerve into the other lane of the non-striped country road to avoid a collision.

The bus driver later told police that once each vehicle was stopped, Baker approached the bus and demanded his children be allowed to ride. The bus driver refused, citing school policy to only pick up children at designated stops.

On March 12, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office charged Baker with the three dozen Criminal Recklessness charges for each of the people – students and the driver - on the school bus.

Two counts of Neglect of Dependant we also filed because Baker’s children were in his vehicle were with him at the time of the incident.

All the charges are Class D felonies punishable by six months to three years in prison.

Baker was arrested, but has since bonded out of the Franklin County Security Center in Brookville, jail officials said.