Pa. school bus driver suspended after being accused of shoving autistic boy: reports

A Johnstown special needs bus driver is facing charges after being accused of shoving a 6-year-old non-verbal autistic boy last week after he didn’t want to ride the bus, according to reports from WJAC and WTAJ.

According to an affidavit, the incident happened on March 23, when school was dismissed at the Greater Johnstown Elementary School in Cambria County, and two guidance counselors witnessed the act.

The counselors told authorities that 73-year-old Christopher J. Ilg, of Johnstown, refused to let the autistic boy on the bus and when one of the counselors tried to escort the boy back to his bus seat, the driver shoved him and caused him to fall backward.

The counselor claimed that if she hadn’t caught the boy just in time, he would’ve fallen off the bus and onto the curb, according to WTAJ.

According to reports, Ilg had initially removed the child from the bus because he said the boy “got the other kids worked up.” When the counselors found the boy crying alone on the sidewalk, they confronted Ilg who said, “Unless he can tell me that he is going to listen and follow the rules, he can’t be on the bus.”

One of the counselors reminded Ilg that the boy is autistic and non-verbal, that he was not being violent, and that he “must ride this bus, we do not have another option.” Ilg was also confronted by the assistant principal, who said the student needed to ride the bus to get home.

Ilg continued to be argumentative and would not allow the student on the bus. The counselors said the child was upset and crying but “was not being violent in any way.”

When one of the counselors attempted to escort the boy onto the bus and back to his seat, this was when Ilg reportedly shoved the boy, causing him to fall backward.

Footage of the incident wasn’t captured because the special needs buses aren’t equipped with security cameras. Cameras at the front of the school didn’t capture anything except for the boy standing on the sidewalk, according to WJAC.

Investigators were told by McIlwain’s Bus Lines that Ilg was being fired. However, in a statement provided to WJAC, McIlwain said that Ilg was being suspended instead, pending the outcome of the investigation.

So far, authorities are charging Ilg with simple assault and harassment. He will be arraigned on the charges in May, according to reports.

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