IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Troopers arrested a Statesville man they believe is the driver of a car that drove around a stopped school bus and narrowly missed two children crossing the street.
Joseph Graham Padgett Jr. faces charges of passing a stopped school bus, driving with a revoked license, careless and reckless driving and improper passing.
North Carolina Highway Patrol said they found a 2011 Kia Soul at Padgett's home matching the vehicle seen on bus video.
Padgett was arrested early Saturday and was being held at the Iredell County Detention Center, according to the sheriff's office.
The two elementary school children escaped injury Thursday morning after a driver didn’t stop for their school bus.
Iredell-Statesville Schools shared the video of the close call. It shows a driver disregarded the extended stop arm and red flashing lights of the bus while two bus riders crossed the street. The video shows both children running and the vehicle narrowly missing one of them.
Their mother saw it all happen.
“In a split moment, everything could have changed, it could have went 10 times [worse] than the outcome that was [Thursday] morning. I fully believe she had guardian angels watching over her, because it could’ve been extremely ugly,” the woman said.
Another mother, Jezy Medina, whose daughter also had a close call while catching the bus last year, was shocked to see Thursday morning’s video. Her daughter also attends Iredell-Statesville schools.
“The first thing that came to my mind was what happened to my daughter,” Medina said.
According to Medina, a car almost ran over her 17-year-old when she attempted to cross the road to catch the school bus this winter.
The driver of the vehicle didn’t stop for flashing lights, the extended stop arm or the honking of the bus driver and the mother.
“I cried and then I stopped and then I was like, what just happened? It didn’t even stop,” Medina said.
Medina says it’s not only the law for drivers to stop for buses with red flashing lights and extended stop arms, it can save lives.
“If, God forbid, they hit a kid, are they going to be able to live with that?” Medina said.
She hopes this close call increases awareness about school bus safety.
“[I want to tell] the mother of the kids I’m glad the kids are OK and hopefully something better comes out of this incident to prevent something even bigger,” Medina said.
Under state law, passing a stopped school bus is a class 1 misdemeanor with a minimum fine of $500. A driver who commits a second offense within three years could lose a license for a year.