Fayette County school bus driver arrested on DUI charge after hitting vehicles
A Fayette County school bus driver was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after police say the bus hit two vehicles on Friday morning.
No students were on board at the time of either collision, according to a police uniform citation filed in Fayette District Court.
Officers from the Lexington Police Department arrested Carla Padgett, 60, of Lexington, after being called to Wiseman Drive because a bus driver “had struck two separate vehicles” at 7:56 a.m. Jan. 16, police said in the citation.
Police said Padgett “showed signs of impairment” during field sobriety tests and was “not following directions.” She had “bloodshot watery eyes, and officers recognized the odor of alcoholic beverages coming from” her, the citation stated.
Wiseman Drive runs between Easthills Drive and Tuscaloosa Lane near Man o’ War Boulevard in south Lexington.
Padgett was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident or failure to render aid or assistance in connection with a collision on Liberty Road at 7:25 a.m. Friday.
Police said she “was operating a Fayette County school bus when she struck another vehicle and continued to travel without stopping to render reasonable assistance,” according to a citation filed in court.
Further details about the circumstances of that collision were not provided in the citation.
Fayette County Public Schools has a bus garage on Liberty Road.
The school system did not respond to questions about Padgett’s route or her employment status with the district.
“Fayette County Public Schools is aware of the situation,” a district spokesperson said in a statement on Friday night. “As a matter of policy, the district does not comment on the specifics of personnel matters or active law enforcement investigations.”
The district said the situation “did not involve students or impact school operations.”
