A central Minnesota school bus driver was drunk when he climbed behind the wheel and dropped off dozens of children, according to charges filed Wednesday.
Thomas R. Bromen, age 63, of Sauk Centre, was arrested late in the afternoon Monday, charged with three gross misdemeanor counts of drunken driving and remains jailed in lieu of $12,000 bail.
Police were notified after the school district fielded three calls about Bromen's driving.
Officers caught up to Bromen after dropping off 40 to 50 students home and "noticed multiple signs of impairment," a statement from police read.
No harm came to the students, who were from all of the schools the district transports: the high school, junior high, elementary school and Holy Family School.
Bromen declined to take a roadside sobriety test, but he did admit to officers that he was drunk, police added.
He was given a preliminary breath test at police headquarters, which revealed that his blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.16, twice the legal limit for private motorists in Minnesota and four times the limit is .04 percent for commercial vehicle operators. However, the law is even more strict for bus drivers, who are breaking the law "when there is physical evidence present in the person's body of the consumption of any alcohol," according to the state Department of Public Safety's bus driver training manual.
Police said Bromen drove his own vehicle to the bus garage before starting his route.
The Sauk Centre School District said in a statement that it has fired Bromen, who had driven a bus for the district for the past 6½ years.
