Hartland bus driver OWI; man pleads no contest, sentenced

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Walter Cunningham appears in Waukesha County Court (January 2025)

HARTLAND, Wis. - A Waukesha County judge sentenced a Hartford man to time served and three years' probation after he pleaded no contest to charges associated with driving a school bus while intoxicated with students on board. 

In court:

Walter Cunningham, now 73, entered the no contest pleas to all charges against him – including OWI and three counts of disorderly conduct – on Friday. His driver's license has also been revoked for one year. 

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Bus driver arrested

The backstory:

It happened in January 2025. A criminal complaint said there were 27 kids, between the ages of 4 and 14, on the bus.

Prosecutors said a student on the bus called 911 to report their bus driver, Cunningham, would not let students off the bus. Dispatch noted "a lot of chaos and screaming" in the background of the phone call.

Officers got to the scene and found "a bunch of kids running in the road and on the side of it away from the bus," the complaint said. The bus then drove away, but the officer pulled it over and spoke to Cunningham.

What they're saying:

Prosecutors said Cunningham told police that he was trying to figure out where he needed to go for the route, and the kids were "screaming at him" and "all riled up." He said a parent pulled in front of him, wanting his kids off the bus after one of them called about what was going on. 

Cunningham later said he picked up the kids but did not stop anywhere or drop any of them off, according to the complaint. He said he never kicked anyone off the bus, but said the kids "flew off the bus." Detectives said many of the kids tried to walk home, crossing roads during rush hour.

The officer noted Cunningham's speech was slurred at times, thick and heavy, according to court filings. His eyes appeared glassy, and his balance was "not normal."

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Cunningham also told police, according to prosecutors, that he "takes a lot" of prescription medication, but denied having anything to drink. Police looked up the prescriptions Cunningham said he had taken that day, one of which had a warning that it can "impair judgment, thinking, or motor skills and that users should use caution when operating machinery."

Court filings said a preliminary breath test yielded results of 0.00, and Cunningham performed field sobriety tests. The officer determined Cunningham's "ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired and that he could not do so safely." 

When told he was under arrest for OWI, the complaint states Cunningham "laughed out loud."

School bus driver arrested in Hartland (Courtesy: Angelique Tober)

What they're saying:

Investigators also spoke to children and parents.

One child said she hit her head numerous times when Cunningham slammed on the brakes, per the complaint, describing her headache as an "8 out of 10." A different child said Cunningham "almost crashed into a car," and a third child told a parent she thought "the bus was going so fast it was going to tip."

The complaint also said one of the children described what happened as "the most terrifying day of my life," and said, "I thought he was going to kidnap us."