Bus driver finds corn field instead of road

A Waterford school bus driver accused of driving into a cornfield with four students on the bus was charged Thursday with four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

Jason S. Stalbaum, 38, of Waterford, appeared in Racine County Circuit Court Oct. 8 to face the four Class F felony charges. The court commissioner found probable cause that a crime was committed and set bond for Stalbaum at $50,000, according to online court records. He was also ordered not to possess or consume controlled substances.

Julie Johnson, co-owner of bus company S&J Services, Waterford, confirmed that as of last week that Stalbaum was no longer employed by the bus company. She also confirmed that he is the son of one of the company’s owners.

A preliminary hearing in the felony case was set for Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Racine County Circuit Court.

In addition, Stalbaum has been cited for operating while intoxicated – first offense, hit and run causing property damage, unsafe lane deviation and failure to report an accident, according to the Racine County Sheriff’s department.

The Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at 2:11 p.m. Oct 6 regarding the incident, which occurred in the 3200 block of Buena Park Road in the Town of Waterford, according to a news release issued by the Sheriff’s Office Tuesday night.

A caller said the bus swerved off the road, through a ditch and into a cornfield before returning to the road. None of the passengers – four special education students – were injured, but three rows of corn for about 100 feet were destroyed.

Responding deputies learned from the bus company that the driver was still on his route and children were on the bus.

Deputies located the bus and pulled the driver over on Highway 11 near Highway J in the Town of Burlington. The bus had pieces of corn stalks hanging from the undercarriage, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

The deputy who pulled the bus over reported that Stalbaum displayed indicators of impairment, including facial and body tremors, according to the criminal complaint.

After deputies concluded that conditions in the field were affecting field sobriety tests, Stalbaum allegedly agreed to be taken to the Town of Burlington Police Department for the tests. When administered there, deputies allegedly saw indicators of impairment on four different tests.

Stalbaum allegedly admitted to taking Clonazepam, an antianxiety drug, and morphine sulphate earlier that day and smoking marijuana in the previous day, the complaint contends.

He allegedly told the deputy he stockpiles Clonazepam to use recreationally and that he “balloons out” or “checks out” while using it.

Stalbaum had been previously convicted of possession of marijuana, operating without a valid license and a hit-and-run accident involving property. Those incidents, however, happened in 1995 and 1996, and Stalbaum had no other criminal charges listed on the Wisconsin Circuit Court access system until last week.