NJ Bus Driver, Aide Accused Of Leaving Autistic Child On Bus For Over 7 Hours

EDISON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A bus driver and bus aide in New Jersey were arrested after authorities said they left an autistic child alone on their bus for hours.

Luis Gonzalez, 67, of Middlesex Borough and Maria Vasquez, 53, of Edison, were charged with endangering the welfare of a child on Thursday, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said.

Gonzalez, the driver, and Vasquez, the bus aide, are accused of leaving the 6-year-old autistic boy on their bus for more than seven hours on Oct. 22.

Authorities said the child had been picked up and was taken to a school in Edison around 8:45 a.m., but was never taken off the bus.

The bus then returned to the Barker Bus co. bus yard in Bridgewater, where the child sat until another driver found him during an afternoon school pickup, authorities said. That driver alerted the bus company's owners.

Prosecutors said the child was returned to his school, where he was examined by a school nurse around 4 p.m.