LYNDHURST, Ohio (WJW) – A former, local school bus driver was sentenced for an OVI charge Monday morning.
Diene Ella Hines, 60, was arrested in September after police conducted a field sobriety test and determined Hines was drunk while behind the wheel of the bus.
She was fined $500 plus court costs, given one-year probation and her license was suspended for one year, retroactive from Sept. 23, 2022.
She was also ordered to undergo mental health treatment and wear an alcohol-detection bracelet for 90 days.
“You are not to have alcohol,” Judge Dominic J Coletta said. “You have to learn to cope with stress and if you’re getting the right counseling, you’re going to learn to cope with stress without consuming alcohol.”
He said if she has a “sip of alcohol,” he’s going to know about it and she’ll be ordered to appear again in court for the violation.
“You decide. I’m giving the power to decide what’s more important alcohol or your living,” he said.
In September 2022, a witness called 911 and reported the yellow school bus was weaving between lanes on northbound I-271, then drove over the lane markers on the Cedar Road exit ramp and was bouncing off curbs.
The witness reported that the bus then pulled into the bus parking lot at the Lyndhurst campus of Hawken School.
Officials say Hines’ blood alcohol content was .198, more than twice the legal limit.
