Cables, fencing also damaged
When drivers returned to their buses last Thursday (March 2) after a three-day Mardi Gras holiday, they discovered the vehicles wouldn’t start.
Thirteen batteries, worth about $100 each, had been stolen from five buses parked in the St. Charles Parish School System’s East Bank bus yard, said Patrick O’Malley, system administrator of ancillary services.
The buses use multiple batteries.
Additional damage was reported from cut battery cables, as well as chain link fence surrounding the yard, O’Malley said.
“That did cause some delays or late starts to bus routes,” he said of minor delays that affected Destrehan High School students.
There are typically 10 to 12 buses parked in the lot, which is adjacent the Headstart Center and Harry Hurst Middle School in Destrehan.
O’Malley praised the school system’s transportation service department and staff of mechanics for their quick response to install new batteries in the buses, which they keep in stock.
The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
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