Missoula Bus Driver Faces Charges After DUI With Children On Board

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 18 new felony complaints this week, which is two fewer than last week and right around the weekly average. According to County Attorney Matt Jennings, there were six violent crimes. 

“One of those was a gunshot being fired at somebody else,” Jennings said. “Most of the rest were partner violence. These are usually really tough cases of ongoing disputes and relationships that turn violent. We've got a whole special team that specializes in these because they're complex, not only in what happened, but in the outcomes we're trying to achieve.” 

There were three endangerment crimes as well and Jennings said one was particularly disturbing. 

“We had a bus driver with a bus full of kids that was stopped and investigated for DUI this week,” Jennings said. “That is a real disturbing incident for us and that person is currently charged with felonies. Obviously they are innocent until proven guilty but we are glad nothing worse happened there.” 

Get our free mobile app

According to court documents, 44-year-old Patrick Andrus has been employed as a bus driver for 11 years. A deputy asked Andrus to participate in the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and Andrus agreed. The deputy instructed Andrus in the SFSTs, where he observed 13 out of 18 indicators of impairment.  

Andrus was read the PAST Advisory and he agreed to provide a breath sample, which registered at 0.092. Then the deputy read Andrus the Implied Consent Advisory and Andrus agreed to provide a blood test.  

The deputy spoke with the manager of the transportation company who provided a manifest for the bus riders that were present on the bus: two 5th graders, three 4th graders, two 3rd graders, and one kindergartener. 

READ MORE: Missoula News – Crime Reports 

Andrus is currently being charged with eight counts of felony criminal child endangerment and his bond was set at $50,000. 

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office provides a weekly crime report every Friday morning at 9:00 on Talk Back.