Fifty-nine-year-old Robert Murphy of Ashland, Massachusetts, stood silently in court Monday, accused of drinking and driving a school bus about 75 miles from a track meet at the Barnstable Fairgrounds in Falmouth to Hopkinton with 25 Hopkinton High School cross country athletes along for the ride.
"At one point it looked like he lost complete control of the bus and was going to fly right off the road," said prosecutor Nate Burris.
A quick-thinking coach called police from the bus and Murphy was arrested in the school parking lot Saturday night.
But, it turns out, this was Murphy’s third drunk driving arrest.
"Parents are very upset, we’re all very upset, it’s very scary for everybody in the school department, certainly for the students," said Superintendent Cathy MacLeod.
MacLeod says Murphy’s prior arrests never showed up on the state’s background checks.
"Legally, he was licensed and met all the requirements to drive the bus," she said.
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How can that be?
Well, his most recent arrest was more than 25 years ago.
"Through the state the CORI checks that were done were only done in a five year period, and unfortunately the offenses were a little further back, and therefore he was eligible to drive," said Hopkinton Police Chief Edward Lee.
"It’s shocking, one of my kids is on one of those buses," said Dave Shea, a parent of a varsity athlete in Hopkinton.
MacLeod says this incident will completely change how the school does background checks on its 26 bus drivers.
The district will now check their entire records and have them submit fingerprints.
"Moving forward it’s not going to be good enough in Hopkinton for drivers to have any kind of record," said MacLeod.
Murphy is being held until a dangerousness hearing Tuesday, when he was released on $2,000 bail and ordered not to drive.
Police are asking anyone who may have seen him down the Cape on Saturday during the track meet to call them as they continue their investigation.
