Georgia

Ga. man accused of stopping school bus full of kids because a child ‘flipped off’ his family

CATOOSA COUNTY, Ga. — A man was arrested for blocking a school bus full of children with his truck after he said a child on the bus “flipped off” his family.

According to an incident report from the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, on April 24, 2023, at around 4:30 p.m., Roger O’Neal Barrett, 55, was moving cattle across a road when he said a child on a school bus “flipped off” his wife and 13-year-old child as the bus passed them by.

Barrett stopped the bus with his truck and wanted to wait for a deputy to arrive to get the juvenile’s information.

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A deputy told dispatch to call Barrett back and let him know that he can not stop the bus and that he needed to meet the deputy back at the location where the gesture occurred.

Once the bus was stopped by Barrett, the children on the bus began calling their parents to let them know what was happening.

Dispatch was unable to make contact with Barrett.

The bus driver told deputies that Barrett told her “The police were already called and they are on the way” and that he wanted a deputy to talk to the student.

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According to the incident report, there was a “heated verbal altercation” between Barrett and parents that arrived at the scene of the stopped bus.

The bus driver spoke with the Director of Transportation for the school district, who allowed the students to be released to their parents who were there at the scene.

The director told a deputy that the school is going to investigate the incident and take disciplinary action against the student who was accused of flipping the family off as they see fit.

On April 25, Barrett turned himself in at the Catoosa County Detention Center.

Barrett was charged with disruption or interference with the operation of public schools.

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