‘Drunk’ school bus driver flips bus with kids inside, then berates troopers there to rescue them: cops

A West Virginia school bus driver was charged with drunk driving by state police on Monday after flipping a bus full of students, injuring as many as 16 child passengers.

Jeffrey Brannon, 54, even went off on state troopers, “yelling and acting aggressive” when they got to the scene on South Calhoun Highway near the Calhoun Middle and High School around 6 p.m. on Monday, WOWK-TV News reported Tuesday.

Brannon reeked of alcohol and allegedly admitted that he had been drinking earlier, the outlet said.

Troopers said he had a blood-alcohol level of .127%, well above the .08% legal limit.

“Our immediate focus is on our students and their well-being,” Calhoun County Superintendent Michael Fitzwater said as he announced schools would be closed on Tuesday.

“But to be clear there is no greater disappointment than learning the cause of this incident is because of the choice by a school employee to whom families entrust their children’s safety with,” he said.

According to WOWK, there were 19 students on the bus at the time of the crash, and more than a dozen were injured.

One of the students was flown to an area hospital by chopper and another was taken by an ambulance, police said.

None of the injuries were described as life-threatening, but one student suffered a serious leg injury, another a broken vertebra and a third sustained a head injury, the outlet said.

Brannon was charged in the highway mishap with driving under the influence causing injury and child neglect resulting in serious injury.

He was being held on a $250,000 bond at the Calhoun County Jail, according to the report.

He is scheduled to return to court on March 14.