Hingham School Bus Driver Arrested for OUI With Students on Board, Police Say

A Massachusetts school bus driver was allegedly driving under the influence Thursday evening with dozens of students on board, state police said.

A 911 caller on the bus from Hingham said it was swerving and ran a red light, according to police; troopers who pulled the bus over found the driver was unsteady on her feet. Hingham Public Schools is investigating, with top officials saying they were "deeply concerned by the incident."

The driver, 53-year-old Bethann Sweeney of Hanover, had a half-full bottle of water that smelled of alcohol, police said. She was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of intoxicating substances.

Sweeney is due in court Friday. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney who could speak to the charges.

The bus was bringing students from Hingham back from a sports event, according to Hingham Public Schools, which is investigating the incident, officials told NBC10 Boston.

School staff on the bus "became concerned about the performance of the driver" while driving back from the event Thursday evening, the district's superintendent and the principal of Hingham High School said in a letter to the community. When they spoke to the driver, the bus pulled off the highway.

"The staff on board called 911 to enlist the support of the Massachusetts State Police who responded right away," the message said.

The students on the bus -- the district didn't say how many -- were taken back home safely on another bus. The officials said they were "deeply concerned by the incident, and, more importantly, the distress this caused our students." They also shared that they were grateful for the quick actions of the staff on the bus.

Massachusetts State Police received a 911 call reporting an erratic school bus on Route 3 northbound, south of Exit 27, in Pembroke around 6 p.m., officials said. The bus was pulled over into the Friendly's Restaurant on Route 139, at which point officers found 28 students, aged 14-20, and two adult supervisors on board. (Police initially estimated there were about 40 people on board.)

Adults on the bus said that they were headed back to Hingham High School from Plymouth North High School, where they were at a Special Olympics basketball ceremony. Troopers said in a statement that the passengers recalled Sweeney "tried to get onto Route 3 South, which was the wrong direction to return to Hingham High School. When told she was heading in the wrong direction, (she) ran a red light and then managed to get onto Route 3 North, again swerving across the road and driving over rumble strips multiple times."

After troopers conducted field sobriety tests on Sweeney, they took her back to the barracks believing she was under the influence, and she refused a breathalyzer test, officials said. She was later taken to South Shore Hospital to be evaluated, and her blood was drawn as part of the evaluation.