Bus company leaves Illinois cheerleading team stranded after they paid more than $10,000
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A prestigious cheerleading team from Kankakee ended up sleeping on the floor of a school—after a charter bus company out of Chicago's south suburbs took their money and sent no bus.
The cheerleaders turned to CBS News Chicago for help—and some disturbing information was discovered about how the girls ended up stranded.
The Kankakee Elite Cheer team is great with the moves, but they found themselves moving nowhere recently when they were supposed to be getting on the road to Florida. They signed a contract with Dolton-based Samuel Bus Service—and paid more than $10,000 by check, Zelle, and cash.
"These cheerleaders did a lot of sponsorship, a lot of donations, a lot of fundraising to get to this point," said Kankakee Elite Football and Cheerleading President Seyborn Billings. "This is not a cheap trip."
Update (12/13/2024): The team made it to Florida on Friday, thanks to another bus company, and the CBS News Chicago Investigators have uncovered more details about the original bus company's checkered past.
Cheerleaders ended up sleeping on the floor of a middle school gym after bus company left them stranded
Samuel Bus Service, owned by Samuel Parks, was supposed to take the girls to Tampa, Florida, where they hoped to cheer their way to victory at a big tournament on Saturday.
Instead, they wound up sleeping on the cold floor of a Kankakee Middle School—when the owner of the bus company claimed driver had a serious illness.
"Having to sleep in school was very, very uncomfortable," one of the girls said.
Parks then texted to claim a driver was in place, but an air line was broken on the bus and a service truck had to come out. In the same text bubble, there was a promise from Parks to try to find a different bus company—and a report that the other driver for the company had passed away from a major heart attack.
"We got scammed," Billings said. "He took these the parents of these cheerleaders' hardworking money."
Bus company operator Samuel Parks even provided phone numbers for a replacement bus—which were disconnected. The team begged with Parks via text to help—emphasizing that the cheerleaders were sitting stranded.
Parks never answered Billings' calls.
"I called over 100 times from my number, another number, our treasurer called over 50-60 times. I had another person call," Billings said. "He never reached back to us."
Bus company owner has had license revoked, insurance canceled
CBS News Chicago found Samuel Parks—with the same phone number used for the texts with the cheer team and also based in Dolton, was no longer authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation. His business license in the State of Illinois was also no good as of 2023.
"I'm very upset now," Billings said. "Very hurt."
There was at least a happy ending for the girls who waited all night for their bus that never showed. The adults jumped into action—and found another bus company to take the girls to Tampa.
But the team had to come up with $13,000 in just a few days—so they launched a GoFundMe page titled, "Stranded Cheerleaders Need Your Support."
They boarded a bus that actually showed up—and were more than ready for their 17-hour journey. They are hoping to come home champions.
"It's about these young women who worked very hard to get to where they're at," said Billings.
CBS News Chicago has learned Samuel Bus Service lost its Department of Transportation right to operate back in January of this year after its insurance policy was canceled by the insurer.
CBS News Chicago tried to reach Samuel Parks multiple times, but he ignored the calls.
Meanwhile, the cheer team plans to report the bus fiasco to authorities.
CBS News Chicago will be sure to provide an update on how the cheer team does in Florida.
