DETROIT – A Detroit family said two young boys were left wandering a neighborhood alone Monday after their school bus dropped them off at the wrong location for the second school day in a row.
On Friday, a Trinity bus was supposed to drop off DaJuan Foster’s 5-year-old step-son at Heaven’s Above daycare in Harper Woods after school. Instead, the boy was left at the corner of Payton Street and Moross Road, near Seven Mile Road on Detroit’s east side.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Foster said. “I lost my wig for a minute, but I had to jump into action.”
The driver left the boy a mile from the daycare, but fortunately, the family used to live in the area so a neighbor recognized the boy when he was wandering the streets alone, police said. She brought the boy into her house to keep him safe, the family said.
“He’s safe,” Foster said. “I’m glad the neighbor has enough fortitude to say, ‘Look, I know who you are. I’m not going to just leave you over here.’”
Foster called Trinity and claims nobody was particularly concerned. He said they told him they would get back to him Monday and explain what had happened.
But that call never came, Foster said. Instead, the 5-year-old boy, along with his 7-year-old brother, were dropped off at the exact same spot Monday.
“Come Monday, you don’t call me and let me know how that happened,” Foster said. “What you do is let both of my kids off in the same exact spot. A 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. Now, I don’t get the call until 5:30 or 5:45. They get out of school at 4 p.m.”
In a panic, Foster sped to the neighborhood and found his boys wandering alone, unharmed, he said.
“I know what I’m going to do: never let my children on Trinity anything -- anything period,” Foster said.
He filed a report with the Detroit Police Department and officers are investigating.
Trinity opted not to make any comment about the incidents.
Foster said he and his fiance are seriously looking into homeschooling the boys.