Man Posing as Police Detective Removes Middle School Boy from School Bus

Parents of children riding buses to Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland have a new concern this week: are their children safe from police impersonators while under the supervision of school bus drivers?

The Washington Post reported May 12 that a man falsely representing himself as a police detective removed a Montgomery County, Maryland middle school boy from a school bus en route home from Pyle Middle School May 2 and drove away with him in his car. The man had accused the boy of throwing an empty plastic Gatorade bottle at his car.

According to the Washington Post, the man arranged for police to meet him at the boy's house where he then drove and turned the boy over to police. The police declined to take action against the boy because the bottle was plastic and did no damage. The police apparently did know that the man had falsely represented himself as a police officer before leaving the boy's house. Since that time, however, several witnesses have confirmed that the man, a private investigator, represented himself as a police officer, according to the Post. The man is said to have displayed a badge. Neither the man nor the boy have been identified publicly.

The Post reported that in a letter to parents, Pyle Middle School Principal Michael Zarkin stated that the man "maneuvered [his car] in front of the bus to stop it, identified himself as a police detective, showed a badge and boarded the bus." It is not clear why the bus driver allowed the man to take the boy from the bus. MCPS bus drivers have radios with which they can contact the MCPS Transportation Office when an incident occurs on a school bus. The Director of Public Information for MCPS, Brian Edwards, told the Post that the school system is currently reviewing its procedures in an effort to prevent similar incidents.

Investigations into this incident by the Montgomery County police, the State's Attorney and by the Montgomery County Public Schools are continuing.