Police: Drunken bus driver crashed twice transporting scouts from Baiting Hollow camp

A bus driver was arrested late Tuesday afternoon after twice crashing and leaving the scene of accidents while transporting day campers home from Baiting Hollow Scout Camp, Riverhead Town police said in a press release.

Police received a call at 4:37 p.m. that the bus driver was possibly driving drunk with campers and one staff member aboard the bus. No one suffered physical injuries in the incident, police said.

The crashes occurred just west of the camp near the Oak Hills community in Baiting Hollow.

Officers found the driver, Diane Juergens, 61, of Ridge was was driving while intoxicated. She was charged with DWI-Leandra’s Law, which makes it automatic felony to drive drunk with minors in the vehicle. She was also charged for leaving the scene of a crash.

Ms. Juergens is a driver with First Student Bus Company of Hicksville. She has been employed there since January 2019, according to her Facebook profile. First Student operates school buses for districts in Suffolk County as well as offering chartered services.

Baiting Hollow Scout Camp features a daily summer day camp for scouts operated by the Suffolk County Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The camp features two optional bus routes at an additional charge to campers. A North Shore Route carries up to 50 campers from Dix Hills to Mount Sinai, then to the Sound Avenue camp. The South Shore Route makes stops from Bay Shore to Shirley.

Parents of the campers on the bus, which departs the camp shortly after 4 p.m. each day, were notified of the incident and returned to their families, police said.

Ms. Juergens was held overnight at Riverhead Town Police Headquarters for a morning arraignment.