Bus driver accused of DWI while driving Cohoes girls basketball team

SCHOHARIE – A bus driver with Durham School Services was arrested after police say he was driving the Cohoes girl’s basketball team while under the influence.

State police arrested 43-year-old Harry Olivier of Troy around 8:30 Friday evening.

Cohoes City Schools Superintendent says a coach called 911 with concerns of the driver’s erratic behavior.

State police say they received several calls of the erratic driving.

The Cohoes Girls Basketball team was on the way home from a game, when a parent said the tight-knit group of girls began to worry about Olivier’s erratic driving.

As one parent pointed out to NewsChannel 13, it happened on I-88 near Schoharie, just miles from the Schoharie limo crash, one of the deadliest transportation crashes in U.S. history.

Police said Olivier had a B.A.C. of 0.06%, which is above the legal limit for the kind of vehicle he was driving.

The district says it contracts with Durham for athletic events and field trips. Superintendent Peggy O’Shea said in a statement that the district is taking the incident seriously and has reached out Durham for a review of their "hiring, screening and training protocols that are in place to make sure students are safely transported to and from school events."

Olivier’s charges include Leandra’s Law, because some of the girls were under 15 years old, as well as child endangerment. He was released with appearance tickets to return for court on Feb. 28.

A communications executive for National Express, the international company that runs Durham School services, tells NewsChannel 13 the driver was immediately removed from service and is no longer employed there. The company says it’s working with police.