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School Bus Driver Gets Punch And Threats From Impatient Parents At Worcester Stop

WORCESTER (CBS) – Hot temperatures at the start of the school year apparently ignited some hot tempers at a Worcester school bus stop this week.

Worcester police are investigating an incident Wednesday afternoon that resulted in a bus driver getting a punch to the face.

Police report that at about 3:15 Wednesday afternoon the bus driver arrived at a stop in the area of Harlem Street and Perry Avenue.

The driver told police that she tried to allow kindergarten students to get off the bus first when some parents of other children on the bus got impatient.

"We felt like you know she was holding them hostage," Marilyn Poske, a parent said.

School officials say the driver was told by dispatch to close the door until police arrived and that's when things really started to escalate.

Parent Luis Rivera defended the driver.

"She has a protocol that she has to let off the kindergarten kids first, and then the bigger kids get off," Rivera said. "She wasn't going to let any kids out until the parents at least calmed down so she could do her job and they weren't allowing her to do that."

According to police, several parents forced their way onto the bus and removed their kids while yelling profanities at the driver and making threats. One parent recorded video of the tense scene.

Worcester bus
A parent stands in front of the Worcester school bus during the incident. (Facebook video)

A 16-year-old girl allegedly entered the bus and punched the bus driver in the face, police said. She will be summonsed to court on a charge of assault and battery, according to police.

"She started by pulling her hair, and then she striked her in the face and it went from there and everything just went crazy," parent Sandra Rivera said.

Children were upset after the incident. "They were breaking the door and screaming and saying bad words," eight-year-old student Anthony Pacheco said.

Poske admits parents may have overreacted, but feels the driver did as well. "There was so many children on the bus and they were screaming that they were hot, that they couldn't breathe," Poske said.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The driver was back on the job Friday but on a different route.

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