Paterson school bus company driver charged with child endangerment | Paterson Times Paterson Times

Paterson school bus company driver charged with child endangerment

By Jayed Rahman
Published: September 21, 2018

a-1-elegant-tours

A driver for A1 Elegant Tours, a firm banned from Paterson schools for two years, was charged with child endangerment after allegedly hitting five cars, two traffic poles, and a fire hydrant in Orange and East Orange with a nine-year-old child and a woman aide on board the school bus.

Wayne Carmichel, 52, of Paterson has been charged with driving under the influence and child endangerment. He was driving the bus between 8:10 and 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, according to news reports.

Carmichel was issued summonses for suspended license and reckless driving.

Four accidents occurred in East Orange. First was reported at Park and North Arlington Avenues. Second, William Street. Third, North Oraton Parkway. And fourth, Springdale and Glenwood Avenues.

One occurred in Orange on Dodd Street and Thomas Boulevard, according to reports. The driver sustained injuries. The child and the bus aide were unharmed.

It’s not clear which school Carmichel was driving the child.

Shelim Khalique, owner of A1 Elegant, did not respond to a call for comment on Friday morning.

Khalique is the brother of councilman Shahin Khalique.

The school board in Paterson last month banned A-1 Elegant Tours of Summit for two years after it racked up large number of violations for such things as lack of cameras on buses, drivers without commercial licenses, and no aides.

A-1 Elegant Tours received $1.58 million in contracts from the district in the 2016-17 school year.

School board member Emanuel Capers, who led the charge in going after bus companies with large number of infractions, felt vindicated on Thursday.

“It’s tragic that companies like these are allowed to drive our kids,” said Capers, referring to New Jersey students. “These are the problems this company has. I didn’t want these types of accidents to happen in our district.”

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