Colleton bus driver charged with pupil assault

WALTERBORO, S.C. (AP) — A Colleton County school bus driver has been fired following his arrest for grabbing a middle school student by the neck and throwing him against a window.

Sheriff’s deputies have charged 35-year-old Terris Devon Richard with assault and battery as a result of the Oct. 27 incident.

Richard, who is black, tells WCSC-TV that he knows what he did was wrong. But he said he was upset the white student used the N-word. Richard said he had reported the student’s language weeks earlier but nothing was done about it.

An incident report said the boy claimed the driver made threats against him and threatened to shoot up his house and kill his father. The report said charges were brought after deputies reviewed a bus surveillance video.