Painted bus crashes into Covington school after police pursuit; Florida woman arrested

COVINGTON, La. (WVUE) - A school bus painted in graffiti with the message “sex trafficking awareness” painted on it crashed onto the grounds of St. Scholastica Academy in Covington Tuesday (Feb. 7) morning, according to police.

Police released images of the crash, showing that there wasn’t major damage to campus and the bus can be seen wedged into the gate of a walkway entrance.

The bus crashed onto school grounds following a pursuit that was initiated by St. Tammany deputies and assisted by Covington police, authorities say.

The sheriff’s office says that a Florida woman was arrested and identified as the driver.

The sheriff’s office says that Natalie Jade Jarvis, 37, had been living in a nearby state park for the past month. They also said that a man that was living on the bus with her was arrested on domestic abuse charges at the state park.

The pursuit began at 6 a.m. when deputies received a call from a gas station in the 2200 block of Florida Street in Mandeville reporting that a woman came in carrying a blowtorch, saying she was looking for the Dept. of Children and Family Services Office. Employees at the store reported seeing the painted bus and told deputies that it had a Virginia license plate.

Deputies located the bus on US-190 near Walmart and chased it into Downtown Covington where it eventually crashed into St. Scholastica.

Police say that there were no other occupants on the bus and that the blowtorch was taken away by authorities.

The incident is under investigation and charges are pending.

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