GOODYEAR, AZ — The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has charged a bus driver after she allegedly left an autistic teen on a bus alone for several hours this past July.
Last week the county attorney charged Diana Salgado Gutierrez, 56, with child abuse.
On July 9, Gutierrez, an employee with Precious Home Services, picked up a non-verbal, 16-year-old boy with autism to take him and seven other children to a West Valley learning center, but allegedly never took him off the bus.
At the time, a remorseful Gutierrez reportedly told the police, "I didn't see him, and when I went inside the van to take the van to the main center to drop off the keys, I looked in the rearview mirror, and I didn't see anybody."
The teen was reportedly left on the bus near Estrella Parkway and Van Buren Street for more than two hours, enduring temperatures of about 128 degrees, according to police. The teen was taken to the hospital for heat-related issues.
According to court records, Gutierrez admitted to not following policy by checking the bus before getting off.
Police say the boy does not know how to remove a seat belt or open a bus door.
Gutierrez has been charged with child abuse.
