A 60-year-old Blount County school bus monitor, Mark Peebles, was arrested on April 7 and charged with aggravated assault (aggravated child abuse/neglect/endangerment) and simple assault (child abuse/neglect/endangerment) following a February 25 incident involving a student on a school bus. Peebles worked as a contract employee through ESS, which supplies substitute teachers and bus monitors to Blount County Schools; according to the incident report, ESS employees are explicitly not allowed to make physical contact with or hold children under any circumstances.

On the morning of the incident, a school resource officer from Union Grove Middle School responded to a collapsed student who was found lying on his back, struggling to breathe and not fully conscious. School staff performed CPR until the student resumed breathing and was transported by ambulance to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Initial reports suggested the student had slipped out of his harness and accidentally asphyxiated himself, but after reviewing bus video footage, the deputy determined otherwise.

The video reportedly showed the student attempting to escape his harness and move into the bus aisle, at which point Peebles wrapped his arms around the student to hold him in place. The student became suspended in the aisle by his harness while trying to support himself with the seat and his feet. Once the bus parked at the school, the student tried to stand, but Peebles continued to restrain him, using his body weight to pin the boy down in the seat for several minutes. The student eventually went limp, appearing visibly blue and unresponsive by the time school staff arrived and began life-saving measures.

The report also noted that video footage showed Peebles pressing his knee onto another student to keep him in his seat during the ride. The affected student was later described as stable, alert, and conscious.