School Bus Driver Accused Of Attacking 9-Year-Old Boy

CHICAGO (CBS) -- After a bus driver was accused of attacking a 9-year-old boy, the boy's aunt tells CBS 2 she warned the bus company about him before.

The bus left from Orrington Elementary in Evanston Friday and a physical confrontation on board has had a lasting effect for the students involved.

Cell phone video of a bus driver holding on to a 9-year-old, filmed by a 10-year-old student, shows what is described as the end of a physical confrontation.

"He was all up in his face. My nephew was saying, 'Your breath stinks. Get away from me,'" said the family member, who did not want to be identified.

She says Friday her 10-year-old daughter and 9-year-old nephew left school, but the trip home took a detour into criminal territory.

Investigators let her watch bus security video that she says shows the driver "walked to the back of the bus, picked my nephew up, slammed him down on the seat, and that's when you see my daughter picked up the phone and started recording," she said.

Evanston police say they don't know what led to the battery, but the offender got up, grabbed the boy and shoved him. Then he picked him up, shoved him against the window, spun him around and forced him into his seat.

CBS 2's Jeremy Ross visited the listed address to try to speak to the man accused but was unable to speak with him.

Police say 71-year-old David Rennie was charged with misdemeanor battery.

The school district said he was immediately terminated; and the Department of Children and Family Services and the bus company, Positive Connections, were contacted.

"I've complained to the bus company about three or four weeks before," the woman said.

She says the same driver spoke to her daughter inappropriately.

"Like, 'I'm going to kick you off the bus, and your mom's going to have to pay for Uber,'" she said. "One day I waited at the bus stop so I could ask him. He proceeds to say a curse word and sticks his middle finger up at me."

CBS 2 reached out to Positive Connections several times. They refused to answer questions about the safety of the students and the status of the bus driver. They simply said "no comment" and hung up the phone.