A child who did not come home after attending school on Monday was found inside a school van that had been returned to the bus yard at the end of its route, officials with the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, which is in western Pennsylvania, said.According to the Baldwin Borough Police Department, the 3-year-old boy was supposed to be home at 3:40 p.m. from the school van. Once he didn’t come home, the family said they called the boy’s teacher who then called 911. “It was very traumatic for him because he’s such a little kid,” said Biak Hnem, the 3-year-old’s sister. “He has Down syndrome and he can’t do (everything) by himself.” The family said the boy is 3-year-old Daniel Lian. Police said when they found the boy, he was “drenched in sweat and lethargic.” They believe the temperature outside was around 76 degrees Fahrenheit. The child had “mild dehydration” but was otherwise in good health, and the driver of the van has been put on leave during an investigation, according to the district’s statement.The driver, identified as 78-year-old Robert Lutty Jr, of Pittsburgh, has been charged with one count of endangering the welfare of children. Lutty told police he went to the bus garage by habit and forgot to drop the child off, and did not perform a check. Lutty told police there was “no excuse for not doing so.””This was something that could’ve ended very tragically, it does not define who we are,” said Dr. Randy Lutz, superintendent of the Baldwin-Whitehall School District. “It will be corrected and addressed with very quickly.”
A child who did not come home after attending school on Monday was found inside a school van that had been returned to the bus yard at the end of its route, officials with the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, which is in western Pennsylvania, said.
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According to the Baldwin Borough Police Department, the 3-year-old boy was supposed to be home at 3:40 p.m. from the school van. Once he didn’t come home, the family said they called the boy’s teacher who then called 911.
“It was very traumatic for him because he’s such a little kid,” said Biak Hnem, the 3-year-old’s sister. “He has Down syndrome and he can’t do (everything) by himself.”
The family said the boy is 3-year-old Daniel Lian.
Police said when they found the boy, he was “drenched in sweat and lethargic.” They believe the temperature outside was around 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
The child had “mild dehydration” but was otherwise in good health, and the driver of the van has been put on leave during an investigation, according to the district’s statement.
The driver, identified as 78-year-old Robert Lutty Jr, of Pittsburgh, has been charged with one count of endangering the welfare of children.
Lutty told police he went to the bus garage by habit and forgot to drop the child off, and did not perform a check. Lutty told police there was “no excuse for not doing so.”
“This was something that could’ve ended very tragically, it does not define who we are,” said Dr. Randy Lutz, superintendent of the Baldwin-Whitehall School District. “It will be corrected and addressed with very quickly.”
Contributed by local news sources
