POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County deputies arrested a school bus driver Friday they say repeatedly damaged video surveillance system hard drives.
Vernorris Rambow, 47, is charged with one count of felony criminal mischief, a news release from the sheriff's office reports.
The investigation reportedly started in early January when Polk County Public Schools (PCPS) suspected Rambow of damaging the system more than once.
September 2021
PCPS received a complaint about Rambow and sent a specialist to get video from the onboard camera, deputies explained. The video couldn't be retrieved because the hard drive and wires were damaged.
November 2021
Another complaint was received from a parent whose child rode the bus in regards to bullying, according to the sheriff's office. Another safety specialist was sent out to retrieve the video, but once again there wasn't any video because of damage to the video system hard drive and wires.
January 2022
Rambow's supervisor reportedly had a "heated phone conversation" with him while he was on the bus.
When the supervisor sent out a specialist to get video of the conversation, it was revealed once again there was damage to the system and no video existed, the release explains.
After the incident in January, PCPS reportedly had a suspicion the bus driver was intentionally damaging the hard drives.
Rambow's supervisor told him another complaint was made and they needed to retrieve video, only for the hard drive to be once again damaged, deputies report.
The sheriff's office was called in to investigate.
Detectives were able to interview Rambow who reportedly admitted to them he had damaged all four hard drives because he "did not want to get in trouble at work."
It doesn't appear Rambow damaged the equipment to avoid another crime being committed on the bus, deputies explain. Altogether, the damage equaled out to $1,440.
This is an ongoing investigation.
"This is a shame, this school bus driver might have faced some discipline at work due to some complaints, but now he's facing a felony conviction and may be out of a job," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. "The children on his bus were better behaved than he was. We hope he's learned his lesson."
