PETERS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Parents who live off of Locust Drive in Peters Township were shocked to hear a neighbor had been charged with blocking traffic to illegally board a school bus full of children and getting on while three kids were getting off.
Mark Ferrari, 60, showed up at the Peters Township Police Department and said a school bus was speeding. He said he had to swerve his vehicle and drive into a yard to avoid impact.
He said he turned around and stopped in front of the bus to prevent the bus from driving away.
Ferrari admitted to police he boarded the bus and asked the "Hispanic" male driver for his name and identification number, according to police. He told authorities there were no children on board.
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But police said their district buses have video and audio surveillance on board and that's not what it showed.
The video from two weeks ago shows the bus driver telling Ferrari six times to leave the bus. There were 17 elementary school-aged children on board. Some appeared frightened and others were hiding behind seats.
According to police, you can hear Ferrari scream “f*** you” three times in front of the children, yelling racial slurs, calling the driver stupid and saying he shouldn't have a job here and shouting other obscenities.
"They're probably traumatized, and that is horrible. You put your child on a school bus and have to worry about crazy stuff like this happening," said neighbor Lisa Veglia.
The school bus driver showed up at the police station that same day and told police he stood up from his driver's seat and became fearful for the safety of the students.
Police charged Ferrari with ethnic intimidation, harassment, disorderly conduct and unauthorized school bus entry.
Cox Media Group