Bus driver pleads not guilty

Peter D. Quinlan, 69, of Nature View Drive, had a not guilty plea entered on his behalf for the May 11 incident. He was released by Judge Paul A. Losapio on personal recognizance and is to return to court July 28 for a pretrial conference. Quinlan declined to comment after yesterday's hearing, which lasted less than a minute.

The defendant shielded his eyes as he walked to a vehicle after the arraignment, while photographers from several television stations took his picture and reporters asked for comment. He got into the car, which a woman drove from the parking lot.

Quinlan's lawyer, Gerald A. Lemire of Uxbridge, also left the court quickly without commenting. He did not return telephone calls.

Quinlan has been fired by Vendetti Bus Co., of Bellingham, which provides service to Northbridge schools. He told Northbridge police he had been driving for Vendetti for about six years, according to a Northbridge police file in Uxbridge District Court.

The child Quinlan is alleged to have left behind was one of nine preschoolers on the handicapped-accessible bus that day, according to interviews recorded by police.

The driver dropped seven students at W. Edward Balmer Elementary School on Crescent Street at about 8:45 a.m. and then took two other students to Northbridge Elementary School on Cross Street.

The 3-year-old attends preschool at the Balmer School, according to police.

The child evidently did not get off the bus, according to school and police officials, and was not found until the driver returned to the bus yard, off North Main Street in North Uxbridge, to make his afternoon bus run.

Quinlan was also under scrutiny after dropping off a child at the wrong day-care center several days earlier.

According to the police record, the Vendetti Bus Co.'s manager, Julie Vendetti, told Roy that each bus driver must fill out a daily vehicle condition report upon checking the bus and perform a "pink card" check, which is completed by checking the bus for anyone left on board. That's followed by the hanging of a pink card, marked "this bus empty," at the rear bus window.

Quinlan, according to the narrative, was shown the daily vehicle condition report and asked if he usually checks the bus and completes the reports.

According to the police record, he stated that when he used to drive alone he would complete the checks, but believed he was told by his supervisor that because he had a bus monitor, Deborah Gray, it was her job to check the bus after every route. He said he does complete the daily reports.

Gray, who has also been fired, has not been charged.