KNOXVILLE - A Knox County Schools bus driver has been charged with DUI, reckless endangerment and simple possession after crashing his bus with 26 students on board.
Knoxville police said in a news release that 78-year-old Hollis Walker was driving Green Magnet Elementary School students on Thursday to a field trip when the bus ran into a gate and a fence while entering Safety City, a popular destination that features a child-size replica of Knoxville.
No children were hurt in the incident. Authorities say medical personnel found Walker slumped over the steering wheel and incoherent. He was taken to a hospital.
Police say 21 pills were missing from a prescribed bottle of Klonopin that had been filled earlier that morning. The prescription wasn't in Walker's name.
It's unclear whether Walker has an attorney.
School officials say he is no longer an active bus driver.
"Hollis Walker was immediately removed from our bus driver eligibility roster following the March 10 incident at Safety City, and remains ineligible to drive a school bus," said Melissa Tyndall, spokeswoman for Knox County Schools, who told media. "If found guilty of the current charges, he will obviously be removed from the eligibility roster permanently."