She allegedly served liquor to minors in her Hellertown home.
By Brian Callaway
Of The Morning Call
August 7, 2007
A school bus driver who transports Palisades School District students has been charged with letting minors drink alcohol at her Hellertown home.
Cheryl Evans, 44, of 122 E. Saucon St. was charged after Hellertown police went to her home early July 6 and found several minors who'd apparently been drinking rum, court papers say. Evans and two other people were charged with providing liquor.
In addition to the liquor, court records say, police found a small amount of marijuana in the home's laundry room.
Palisades Superintendent Francis Barnes said Monday that a driver with First Student, the district's main transportation provider, had been suspended because of the charges.
He said he didn't know the name of the driver or which school or schools her bus route included.
''We've been notified that a bus driver who is employed by our contractor has been charged and, according to their policy, that person was placed on leave,'' Barnes said.
A man who answered the phone Friday at First Student said Cheryl Evans was a driver there, but declined to answer other questions. A man who answered the phone at Evans' home Monday said she was not available to answer questions.
Barnes said the district officially was notified of the driver's suspension Friday.
It's unclear how Evans knew the minors who police say were in her house July 6. Hellertown police did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Court records say police went to the home a little after 4 a.m. and saw several people, including some who appeared to be minors, running toward the basement. Police followed and found a bottle of rum and marijuana.
The records do not make clear where Evans was when police arrived.
Barnes said he doesn't know the details behind the charges, such as whether Palisades students were involved. Still, he said, the situation is worrisome.
''It's very much a concern and we take it very seriously,'' he said.
Palisades will pay about $2.2 million for transportation services in the upcoming school year, Barnes said. Most of that will go to First Student.
Evans was arraigned last Tuesday before Lower Saucon Township District Judge Diane Repyneck on charges of corrupting minors and selling or furnishing liquor. Bail was set at $15,000, court records say, though a Northampton County Prison official said there's no record of Evans being sent there.
Court records say two men -- Harry Opdyke, 20, who lives in Evans' home, and Piotr Chciuk, 18, of 402 Main St. in Hellertown -- also were charged with providing liquor at Evans' house
UPDATE
Mom to face court in teen drinking
Witness says he was too drunk to recall night at bus driver's home.
By Daryl Nerl
Of The Morning Call
September 26, 2007
Despite an admission from the prosecution's star witness that he was too drunk to remember much, a school bus driver from Hellertown charged with providing liquor to teens will face criminal charges in Northampton County Court.
Cheryl Evans, 44, a bus driver for the Palisades School District in Bucks County, is accused of providing rum for teens during a party at her home at 122 E. Saucon St. on July 5 and 6. At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, District Judge Diane Repyneck of Lower Saucon Township ruled there was enough evidence to send the case to trial.
Evans' attorney, Bohdan Zelechiwsky of Bethlehem, argued that his client was asleep on the third floor of the house and unaware of the drinking, while her son Harry Opdyke, 20, hosted some of his young adult and teenage friends.
Opdyke and Piotr Chciuk, 18, of 402 Main St., Hellertown, were also charged. Police were called to the home on a noise complaint at 4 a.m. July 6.
Prosecutors had a signed statement from Matthew Schwank, 17, who told borough police that he had been playing quarters -- a drinking game -- with Opdyke and Evans and that Evans drank two shots from a bottle of rum they were all sharing. But under cross-examination at the preliminary hearing, Schwank admitted that he was drunk and that his memory of events was spotty.
Zelechiwsky asked Schwank whether Evans had come into the kitchen before midnight, noticed he and Opdyke drinking, took the bottle away and told them to stop.
''Not to my recollection, but I was under the influence,'' Schwank testified.
Schwank, a key prosecution witness and a victim of Evans' alleged crime, wore a ring through his lower lip and his hair long enough to partially cover the letters on his T-shirt advertising skateboarding shoes.
''At 4 o'clock in the morning, you were gone, weren't you?'' Zelechiwsky asked him.
''Yeah,'' Schwank said as a smile crossed his lips.
Asked if the police threatened him before he signed the statement, Schwank said he was drunk, tired and just wanted to get out of the station.
''When you signed that statement, you were smashed, weren't you?'' Zelechiwsky asked.
''Yes,'' Schwank said. ''I've been in the police station a few times before. Usually, I have to sign things before I can leave. It's pretty much a blur in the police station.''
Hellertown Patrolman John Donato testified that he had gotten a statement from Evans that she drank a shot from the bottle in the presence of Schwank and Opdyke. Under cross-examination, Donato said Evans was not actually with a group of about half-dozen young adults and teens when he arrived at the house and that he had to knock on a third-floor bedroom door to get her to come downstairs.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly A. Lewis argued that it is not important whether Evans gave the youths the bottle to pour drinks from. If she was aware that they were drinking in her home and did not stop them, a crime was still committed under Pennsylvania law, Lewis said.
Prior to the hearing, charges against Evans were reduced to one count of corruption of minors and two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors.
Evans is free on $15,000 bail. She was suspended from her job as a school bus driver days after she was charged.
Copyright © 2007, The Morning Call
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