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Last updated on Wednesday, March 12, 2014
(KOKOMO) - A substitute bus driver arrested for drinking on the job will avoid prison time.
William Tucker pleaded guilty to driving drunk, but prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor charge of OWI Endangering a Person.
In exchange for his plea, Tucker will serve one year of unsupervised probation, 200 hours of community services at the Howard County Courthouse and will have to attend a Victim Impact Panel presented by people impacted by drunk drivers.
Court records show he served four days in the Howard County Criminal Justice Center and will not have to serve any more time behind bars as part of his sentence.
Witnesses reported seeing Tucker outside a Kokomo restaurant, pouring a beverage from a can into a cup. A witness said Tucker turned away and threw the can down, so the witness grabbed it. It was a blue "Miller" can, police said.
Police said Tucker agreed to a portable breath test, and the officer could smell alcohol on his breath before the test. Police said the portable breath test result was 0.105 percent blood-alcohol content.
Investigators said, however, that when Tucker was put through the other physical and mental sobriety tests, he completed them with no problems.
Police said Tucker's BAC test back at the station tested at .08 percent. Investigators preliminarily charged him with a Class C misdemeanor of operating while intoxicated.
Kokomo schools spokesman Dave Barnes said Tucker was a substitute driver that day, and there were no children on the bus when officials were alerted to Tucker's drinking. Barnes said after Tucker was arrested, one of the school corporation's regular drivers took over and drove the school children home.
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