Student Left Stranded On Bus In Delaware Co.
UPLAND, Pa. (CBS) -- When nine-year-old Ishaad Maultsby describes waking up alone in the dark on a school bus Monday night in the locked Chester Upland School District's bus yard, you can't blame him for crying.
"It was real scary cause it didn't look like nobody was there," Maultsby said.
His mom Tiffany Maultsby is angry and wants answers.
"I'm about to cry, why did you leave my son? Did you care? Do you all care?" Maultsby said.
Ishaad fell asleep on the back of his bus and missed his stop at 7th and Tilghman in Chester. He should have gotten off the school district's bus around 6:30 p.m.
"Now we are knocking on doors, calling people," his mom explained.
As his mom tried not to panic, so did Ishaad. He got off the bus, realized the yard was empty and locked. He found a hole in the fence and crawled through.
"I saw the 7-Eleven," Ishaad said.
Surveillance video from the convenience store at Powell Avenue shows him walking in crying. He asked to use the phone to call his mom to pick him up.
"He broke down crying as soon as he saw me," Tiffany said.
She and her son thanked employees at the store for helping him.
The Chester Upland School District says a school bus aide, who has worked there for five years, has been suspended without pay pending an investigation. Her supervisor says it was her responsibility to check the bus. She reportedly gave the driver the all clear. A woman who identified herself as the bus aide and driver union would not comment when we asked for someone to speak on the aide's behalf.
Ishaad's mom says her son is an excellent student and has street smarts, but the incident has left him scared.
Reported By: Robin Rieger, CBS 3
