When Hillsborough County schools bus driver Cindy Fulwood told Barry Christopher Martin that he couldn't get on the bus heading to Shields Middle School, Martin climbed on top of the bus, opened the top vent and entered from above, deputies say.
Martin, 27, sat in a seat and asked the driver to take him down the road. Instead, Fulwood, a 16-year veteran, made sure Martin focused on her as the roughly 50 students onboard evacuated without prompting. Fulwood then called 911.
"I never thought I'd be through an experience like that," she said Thursday. "I'm just really proud of the way everything turned out. We're all safe and my kids were awesome."
When the bus didn't move, Martin kicked open the door and got off.
Then he approached another Shields bus at the intersection, Ruth Morris Road and U.S. 301, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
Martin forced his way through the bus door. The driver told him to get off the bus and Martin did, but then climbed on the hood and atop the bus, deputies say. He jumped to the ground, entered the back door and crawled through the bus before exiting the front door.
Then he crawled on the road to the front of the bus, where he was arrested.
Martin, a Bradenton resident, was charged with two counts each of burglary of an occupied conveyance and disrupting school function.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement