Woman arrested accused of attacking school bus driver in front of children

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. - A Putnam County woman was arrested after officials said she assaulted her child’s bus driver.

Eatonton police said the woman attacked the driver in front of students.

"I hope it was worth it," one parent said. 

Parents in Putnam County want to know why a parent would assault a bus driver in front of students. 

Police confirm the incident happened Wednesday afternoon.

One parent whose child was on the bus at the time said it started when a student became disruptive.

"The student was acting erratically and being disrespectful. The school bus driver said she was going to take them back to the school since you couldn’t act right on the bus," the parent described.

Erica Burke (Putnam County Sheriff's Office)

Police said the parent, Erica Burke, showed up to the bus.

"She came up to the bus and the driver wouldn’t let the student off, so the child jumped up and hit the emergency exit and came onto the bus and the parent came onto the bus and dragged her off and assaulted her outside the bus in front of all the children," the parent described.

Police responded and Burke was arrested.

The bus driver is OK but had visible marks from the assault. 

No students were hurt and another driver was called in to finish the route.

"The real problem is two days later we hadn’t heard anything from anyone at the school," the parent said. 

Parents said they wished the school system had alerted them earlier about the incident as the kids were almost two hours late getting home.

"I think the school system needs to take a look at how they are transporting kids and communicating with families and be more transparent with what’s happening because we are a small community," the parent described. 

Burke faces a laundry list of charges including battery, cruelty to children and making terroristic threats and acts.

Our numerous request for comments to the school system have not been returned.