Rutherford County Tenn school bus driver Jeff Layne under arrest for DUI

2014-03-30 — This statement from the Rutherford County Schools on the arrest of a bus driver:
Rutherford County Schools was notified earlier this evening that a bus driver serving Stewartsboro Elementary School has been charged with Driving Under the Influence after completing the elementary school route.
We understand that parents will be shocked and concerned about this troubling news, and the school district is equally shocked and concerned about the charges against the driver.
The driver’s name is Jeffery Layne, 53, of Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro, and he was driving bus 110. Rutherford County Schools uses independent contractors to provide bus service. Bus 110 is owned by contractor Roy Dye, who employed the driver.
The school district completes background checks on all drivers before they are cleared to drive. Layne was cleared to drive beginning in February 2013, and he has no other incidents on his record while driving for the school district.
We do not yet have a full list of the charges against the driver. We are fully cooperating with police as they investigate the situation, as we have throughout the afternoon. The district was first contacted by Murfreesboro police at approximately 3 p.m. while they were investigating the driver in connection with a reported hit-and-run accident in his private vehicle from earlier in the afternoon.
The school and the district’s transportation department provided information to police about the driver, who was in the process of completing his elementary school route. He was questioned by police once he returned to school and was eventually charged with Driving Under the Influence.
The sheriff’s office is expected to have additional details about the full list of charges available soon.
The school district sent a message to the affected parents earlier this afternoon to notify them the bus driver was being investigated. A second message is being sent to those parents tonight with the information about the DUI charge. Rutherford County Schools will be on spring break next week, but parents with questions can call the district’s central office Monday. We are also providing updates, as needed, on the school district’s website.