Mount Prospect school bus driver Betty Burden, 54, was nearly three times over the legal limit for alcohol after she dropped off about 50 children at their homes from Lions Park Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.
Betty Burden was arrested after police received a report from Vincente Ramirez, the transportation supervisor with Mount Prospect School District 57 around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. The supervisor followed Bus Number 11, and when driving appeared erratic, the police were called. Police were committed to a traffic stop with the bus on River Road, just north of Euclid Avenue about 3:45 p.m Tuesday. Her blood alcohol level was .226.
When police approached the school bus driver, they “immediately smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Burden’s breath,” , and also noticed other physical signs of “alcohol impairment.” She failed “all field sobriety tests administered to her,” and was transported in custody to Mount Prospect Police Department Headquarters.
A school bus driver for the Mount Prospect school district for 10 years, she admitted drinking vodka and orange juice before driving.