School Driver Suspended After His On-Duty Arrest

A school bus driver arrested in Tustin on suspicion of driving his bus while intoxicated has been suspended by his employer pending the outcome of blood tests.

Tustin police say the driver had dropped off two loads of elementary school children when he was stopped on the Marine Corps helicopter base in Tustin on Friday.

Police identified the driver as Limeo Earley, 25, of Anaheim, who works for Pacific Busing of Los Angeles. The private firm provides bus services for the Tustin Unified School District, company officials said.

According to Tustin police, someone contacted military police at the base to say that a school bus was being driven erratically. School buses go onto the base to transport children who attend schools off the base, police said.

A military policeman stopped Earley’s bus, which at that time had no students aboard, and gave him a field sobriety test, police said. A Tustin police officer was summoned, and that officer gave a second test.

According to police, Earley failed both tests. The civilian officer reported that Earley’s eyes were “extremely bloodshot and watery,” that his speech was slurred and that he had “difficulty maintaining a stationary position,” said Tustin Police Sgt. Mike Shanahan.

At the Tustin police station, Earley’s breath was analyzed twice, and no alcohol was found in his system. Police took him to Orange County Jail to sample his blood for other intoxicants, Shanahan said.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles reported that Earley has no record of driving under the influence of intoxicants. A DMV spokesman said Earley’s record shows one speeding violation in 1987 and showed his school and tour bus driving certificate to be in good order and unrestricted.

Brian Navis, president of Pacific Busing, said Earley had been working for the firm since the fall. Earley will not be permitted to drive buses until his blood test results are released later this week, Navis said.

Earley was released from Orange County Jail on his own recognizance Friday.