New information has come to light about the bus driver for the Rutherford County Schools who was charged with DUI on Friday. You may recall James Evans, the Spokesperson for the Rutherford County Schools, told WGNS in an email on Friday…

“Rutherford County Schools was notified earlier this evening that a bus driver serving Stewartsboro Elementary School has been charged with Driving Under the Influence after completing the elementary school route.”

That bus driver was 50-year old Jeffery Layne.

The M-P-D incident report shows that Layne allegedly got into a small fender bender with another driver in the area of Chic-Fil-A around 2 P.M. on Friday in Murfreesboro. After the accident, the woman told police that Layne continually asked to give her cash and advised her that he was a bus driver. The female told police she then asked Layne to pull to the far side of the Chick-Fil-A parking lot “to get out of traffic” and that was when Layne allegedly left the scene.

Soon after the incident at Chick-Fil-A was reported, Murfreesboro Police determined that Layne drove a school bus for Stewartsboro Elementary School. Officer Ferrell wrote, “I was informed by phone that Mr. Layne returned to Stewartsboro and that Deputy Grisham had contact with him.” The report shows at that point, Layne was charged with “Driving Under the Influence.” A warrant was later obtained for “Leaving the Scene” of an accident.

Timeline of Events:

According to the incident report, police responded to the accident scene at 2:01 P.M. The arrest report shows that Layne was not placed in handcuffs and taken to the county jail until 4:02 P.M., 2-hours after the mishap. He was booked into the jail at 4:24 P.M. The arrest report and the incident report does not state that Layne drove the school bus, however, the email WGNS received from the county schools does indeed state that he was arrested “after” completing the elementary route.

Layne is scheduled to appear in court on May 19, 2014.

Actual letter sent to WGNS from the County Schools on Friday night:

March 28, 2014

Rutherford County Schools was notified earlier this evening that a bus driver serving Stewartsboro Elementary School has been charged with Driving Under the Influence after completing the elementary school route. 

We understand that parents will be shocked and concerned about this troubling news, and the school district is equally shocked and concerned about the charges against the driver.   

The driver's name is Jeffery Layne, 53, of Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro, and he was driving bus 110. Rutherford County Schools uses independent contractors to provide bus service. Bus 110 is owned by contractor Roy Dye, who employed the driver. 

The school district completes background checks on all drivers before they are cleared to drive. Layne was cleared to drive beginning in February 2013, and he has no other incidents on his record while driving for the school district.

We do not yet have a full list of the charges against the driver. We are fully cooperating with police as they investigate the situation, as we have throughout the afternoon. The district was first contacted by Murfreesboro police at approximately 3 p.m. while they were investigating the driver in connection with a reported hit-and-run accident in his private vehicle from earlier in the afternoon. 

The school and the district's transportation department provided information to police about the driver, who was in the process of completing his elementary school route. He was questioned by police once he returned to school and was eventually charged with Driving Under the Influence. 

The sheriff's office is expected to have additional details about the full list of charges available soon. 

The school district sent a message to the affected parents earlier this afternoon to notify them the bus driver was being investigated. A second message is being sent to those parents tonight with the information about the DUI charge. Rutherford County Schools will be on spring break next week, but parents with questions can call the district's central office Monday. We are also providing updates, as needed, on the school district's website. 

James Evans
Community Relations Coordinator
Rutherford County Schools

Source:

MPD Incident Report #14-5678
MPD Arrest Report #14-5678
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office
Rutherford County Schools Spokesperson James Evans