L.I. Bus Driver Charged With DWI After Backing Into Tree Limb

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Long Island arrested a bus driver Monday morning for driving while intoxicated, after he crashed during a school field trip.

James Sommer, 47, was driving a school bus carrying 29 Plainedge Middle School seventh graders and a teacher to the DNA Learning Center at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory when, while trying to park the bus, he backed into a tree limb, Suffolk County police said.

A 12-year-old girl had to be transported to Huntington Hospital with minor injuries.

Sommer, of Massapequa, was charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger 15 years old or younger (Leandra's Law), driving while intoxicated while operating a school bus with students on board and endangering the welfare of a child.

The school bus was impounded.

Meanwhile, Sommer was to be held overnight at the 2nd Precinct for his arraignment Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip.

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