Disabled boy found alone on school bus

? A bus driver and matron are accused Friday of leaving a 4-year-old disabled boy in the back of a school bus. School officials say Kamaal Richards was never dropped off at pre-school Thursday. According

News 12 Staff

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Jan 31, 2009, 12:25 AM

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Updated 5,885 days ago

? A bus driver and matron are accused Friday of leaving a 4-year-old disabled boy in the back of a school bus.

School officials say Kamaal Richards was never dropped off at pre-school Thursday. According to officials, the bus driver went to the boy?s Bayridge home, took a break and left him on board.

?He is a 4-year-old and had a speech delay and he can?t vocalize that he has been left on the bus,? says the boy?s mother, Burgundy Richards.

Officials say a Good Samaritan spotted Kamaal, alerted a worker at Council Member Vincent Gentile?s office, Stephanie Giovanco, and sprang into action.

?I was able to get in through the emergency back door, I went onto the bus, told him my name, and asked how he was doing,? says Stephanie Giovanco.

The mother of Kamaal Richards had a tearful reunion with her son and thanked the woman who rescued him.

?It was their responsibility to check if my son was still on the bus,? says Richards.

Police say bus driver Eric Gambaro and matron Eletha Cumberbatch-King were arrested and suspended from the bus company.

The bus company says it is upset about what happened and is installing an alarm system on all of its buses that will enable drivers to check for unattended children.