Boy found walking street after falling asleep on bus; driver charged: deputies

A bus driver in Miami-Dade County was put behind bars after she left a 6-year-old boy behind on her bus, and he then wandered into the street, authorities say.

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Patricia Barberena, 62, is facing a charge of child neglect. As of Thursday, Barberena bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

Around 8 a.m. Tuesday, Barberena picked up the 6-year-old from his day care and drove him to his school. The little boy fell asleep in his seat and didn’t get off, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said.

Barberena continued to drive home and parked her bus nearby. Shortly after, the 6-year-old woke up alone in the bus, got out and started walking the streets near Southwest 298th Terrace and Southwest 157th Avenue, deputies say.

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A passerby found the boy and called 911.

Deputies noted in Barberena’s arrest report that she was contacted by the boy’s school that he had not arrived. Hearing this, she left her home to find him.

She was taken into a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office station, where authorities say she admitted that she did not inspect the bus to see if there were any students still on board.

“[Barberena] knowingly and willfully failed to provide her children with the care, supervision and services,” her arrest report reads.

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