12 kids survive ordeal on bus

A Monticello school bus driver took a dozen students on a wild and dangerous ride Monday, crashing into at least one vehicle before stopping at the gates of the Monticello LDS Temple and fleeing.

Bus driver Rodney Munson, 45, was later booked into the San Juan County Jail for investigation of various charges.

The incident began just after 7 a.m. when Munson picked up his first student. A total of 12 students were picked up on his route: two eighth-graders and 10 students of Monticello Elementary School. Munson's own daughter, who is handicapped, was also on the bus, but students said her father did not buckle her up.

The students realized almost immediately that something wasn't right with the driver, San Juan School District Superintendent Doug Wright said. Munson drove the bus at an excessive rate of speed, ignored stop signs, weaved in and out of traffic and rammed into a pickup truck on U.S. 491 about five miles outside of town, Wright said.

"He was going really fast. He was acting really weird," said 10-year-old Amy VeMille. "We went down the canyon really fast. . . . In my mind, I kept thinking, 'Oh please, oh please don't let me get hurt.' "

When the bus rammed the pickup truck, VeMille said she was thrown from her seat. The driver of the pickup was not injured, and the bus kept going.

"When he was coming up on the turn in the canyon, it felt like we were going to fly over the cliff. I felt like I was going to die at that moment," said a 9-year-old, who gave only his first name, Van.

At one point, Munson told the two eighth-graders to get off the bus, but Kyrie Walker and Ronnie Gobble refused to leave the younger children behind. "I was thinking, 'I have to get these kids off this bus,' " Walker said.

Walker said she tried to talk to Munson and ask him what was wrong. "He said, 'I love you guys. I wouldn't harm you. Why don't you trust me?' "

Gobble said Munson told the group that it was a "special day," they weren't going to school and he had a surprise for them instead.

The bus finally stopped at the Monticello LDS Temple about 7:40 a.m. The driver got out and began shaking the gates of the temple while saying, "I'm lost," according to students. While this was happening, Walker and Gobble helped the elementary children off the bus and walked them to Monticello Elementary School about two blocks away.

"We're delighted with their behavior," Wright said of the two older students. "We're pleased they were able to keep their heads about them."

After teachers and school administrators were notified of the situation, police were called and the school was put into lockdown until the driver was apprehended.