Paramus superintendent 'shocked' by reports about bus driver in fatal crash's record

Joshua Jongsma | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Raw video: Aftermath of Mt. Olive Accident involving Paramus school bus Aftermath of accident

The superintendent of schools in Paramus said she was "shocked, saddened and angry" following reports of tickets, moving violations and license suspensions for the driver of the school bus that collided with a dump truck last week, killing two people.

Dr. Michele Robinson, in a statement sent to NorthJersey.com late Wednesday night, claimed the district had no knowledge of moving violations committed by the driver, whom a source identified Tuesday as Hudy Muldrow, 77, of Paterson.

"Nothing that was provided to the district by the state reflected that the driver had any moving violations," Robinson stated. "In fact, all we were told is that he was a driver in good standing and eligible to operate a school bus.

"If these news reports are true, our community and our children deserved better than to receive incomplete information about his record.”

Bus crash: Driver in Paramus bus crash had license suspended 14 times; six for unpaid parking tickets

Muldrow had his license suspended 14 times since he began driving in 1975, said Mairin Bellack, a Motor Vehicle Commission spokesperson. Muldrow has eight speeding tickets on his record, as well as one careless driving ticket and a summons for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle, from 2003, Bellack said.

Six license suspensions were due to unpaid parking tickets, including Muldrow’s most recent, which lasted from Dec. 20, 2017 to Jan. 3, 2018. The state also once suspended his commercial driver’s license for administrative reasons, Bellack said.

In a follow-up email Thursday morning, Robinson said the Department of Motor Vehicles provides the district with driver abstracts for each bus driver, which they "check thoroughly."

"The abstract showed no moving violations for this individual for the time period we were provided," Robinson said.

Robinson did not say how long Muldrow had been employed by the district or whether or not the district requires bus drivers to provide information about moving violations that occurred in their personal vehicles but did say that she will have more to say in the coming days.

"I am focused on mourning with our community and ensuring that the children of our district get the support they need after such a traumatic incident," Robinson said.

Muldrow was ferrying dozens of East Brook Middle School fifth graders on a field trip to Waterloo Village, a historic 19th century canal tow, when Thursday's accident occurred in Morris County.

Muldrow appeared to have missed the village's highway exit, and was possibly attempting a U-turn on a police turnaround near Exit 25 in Mount Olive when the dump truck hit it, a source said. The crash killed Miranda Vargas, 10, and teacher Jennifer Marie Williamson Kennedy, 51, and injured 43 others.

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The Morris County Prosecutor's Office is handling the investigation. No new information has been released since Friday.

Though investigators have not announced charges or moving violations relating to the crash, both Muldrow and the school board that employs him could face a civil suit.

David Fried, the Vargas family’s attorney, said Tuesday he was investigating a possible legal basis for a lawsuit.

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com