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Tim Nelson
St. Paul

Charges: Sauk Centre school bus driver drove drunk with kids

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Thomas Bromen was charged with three counts of DWI
Thomas Bromen was charged with three counts of DWI after allegedly driving drunk with a bus full of school kids.
Stearns County Sheriff

A criminal complaint against a Sauk Centre, Minn., school bus driver says he had a .16 blood alcohol concentration three hours after he picked children up at school.

Thomas Bromen, 63, picked up about 50 kids about 2:30 p.m. Monday and started on his afternoon route. The Sauk Centre schools' transportation director a short time later got two calls from daycare providers saying he hadn't dropped off kids as scheduled. A truck driver also called and reported he'd been cut off by the bus, which then ran a red light, court documents show.

Bromen was arrested after returning from his route in the central Minnesota town. Authorities say police gave him a blood-alcohol test and arrested him. The .16 blood-alcohol level recorded is twice the state limit for most drivers. State law bans any alcohol consumption by bus drivers.

Bromen faces three drunk driving charges, including a gross misdemeanor for suspicion of driving a bus drunk.

Sauk Centre school officials said Bromen began working for the district in July 2010 and was fired on Monday.

All children on the bus were delivered home safely and all families on Bromen's route were notified of the incident, the district said, adding that it will review what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again.