MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A bus driver in Miami-Dade County was arrested Tuesday after a young boy was left alone inside her bus and then wandered into the roadway near her home, authorities said.
According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Patricia Barberena, 62, picked the boy up Tuesday morning from his daycare and then headed toward his school to drop him off.
But deputies said the boy fell asleep on the bus and didn’t get off once they arrived at his school.
According to the report, Barberena then drove the bus to her home and parked along the county swale.
Deputies said the boy woke up after Barberena had already entered her home and exited the bus.
A passerby found him a short time later walking along Southwest 298th Terrace and 157th Avenue and called MDSO, authorities said.
According to the report, the boy’s school called Barberena to inform her that the boy never arrived and she then went outside to look for him.
Instead, she was greeted by deputies who transported her to the South District Station in Cutler Bay for questioning, authorities said.
According to the report, Barberena admitted to not inspecting the bus to see if any students were still on it before she drove home.
She was arrested on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.
The name of the school the boy attends was not disclosed in the arrest report.
As of Wednesday morning, Barberena was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Online jail records listed her bond as “to be set.”
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
