An elderly bus driver from East Northport surrendered to Suffolk police on Tuesday morning for allegedly kissing a middle school student he was driving home from school nearly two weeks ago.
Michael Dibella, 73, was driving students home from Elwood Middle School on Nov. 19 but when there was just one 11-year-old girl remaining on the bus, he stopped a short distance from the student’s home, turned off the ignition, sat next to her, grabbed her face and kissed her on the lips multiple times, police said.
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Dibella, a Huntington Coach Corporation employee, then drove the student home where the student told her mother, who called police.
“The bus driver… had no prior disciplinary incidents in the district and was cleared by the State Education Department to work in the schools,” the Elwood School District said in a statement. The bus company declined to comment.
Dibella surrendered at the Second Precinct where he was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Tuesday.
The Second Precinct Crime Section is asking anyone with information regarding this incident or who may have had a similar experience to call 631-854-8226.
