UPDATE: EP Bus Driver Now Facing 30 Counts Of Endangerment
EL PASO, Texas — An El Paso bus driver is now facing 30 felony counts of endangerment in addition to 17 felony counts of aggravated DUI (passenger under 15) for allegedly driving a bus while drunk, according to an incident report from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Sixty-one-year-old Alejandro Lopez’s blood alcohol content was measured at .193shortly after he was arrested early Monday morning, according to the report.Lopez is a commercial bus driver for Los Paisanos bus company based in El Paso.
Horizon City cheerleaders were stranded for hours after Lopez was arrested while en route to El Paso from Las Vegas. Thirty people were on board the bus. Of those,17 were under the age of 15, and the youngest was six years old.
“I’m surprised, ” said Lopez’s neighbor Lucy Munoz. “I know him as my neighbor, I don’t know his habits, if he likes to drink or not,” said Munoz.
In addition to the 47 felony counts, Lopez is charged with five misdeameanor counts, including DUI for liquor/drugs/vapors or combo.
The officer who wrote the report stated he detected “a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage” on the driver.
Lopez allegedly admitted to the officer he was taking painkillers for arthritis but said he had not been drinking.
Both blood and breath test were conducted on Lopez. Results of a blood draw have been submitted to the Arizona Department of Public Safety for toxicology analysis.
ABC-7 stopped by to see if Lopez was back at his Lower Valley home, but we were greeted by several dogs.
Later, a woman arrived but refused to speak to us.
We also stopped by the Los Paisanos bus company looking for the owner.
A bus driver referred us once again to their attorney, Mannie Kalman.
Kalman told us earlier in the day he didn’t have all of the facts yet and would call back.
After a trip in which it took almost 24 hours to get back from Las Vegas, Nevada, and in which they were left waiting for another bus at a McDonald’s in Arizona, the owners of Cheerplex who chartered the bus tell ABC-7 they plan to file a lawsuit against Los Paisanos.
Kalman did not call ABC-7 back by deadline for this story.
