Sussex County school bus driver gets 14 years in prison for driving students around while drunk

A school bus driver was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for operating a full-sized school bus while intoxicated with 27 students onboard, Sussex County prosecutors announced on Tuesday.

According to prosecutors, Colleen Eutermarks was more than eight times the legal limit when she was pulled over by state police for driving erratically on County Road 565 in Frankford on Jan. 28, 2022. Police determined that Eutermarks displayed various signs of impairment and was under the influence of alcohol, prosecutors say. This was after she picked up students from both Wallkill Regional High School and Franklin Elementary School. Eutermarks was arrested.

Eutermarks was found guilty of 27 counts of child endangerment — one for each student that she transported while intoxicated. Each count consists of a second degree crime which carries the possibility of five to ten years in state prison.

Prosecutors say Eutermarks was also given a lifetime forfeiture of her commercial driver's license.