Police: Bus driver ate pot gummies, passed out on I-95 in Stratford

BRIDGEPORT — A Boston bus driver says he didn't know the gummy candies he was snacking on while driving passengers home from a state casino were loaded with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

But state police said that was no comfort to his 38 terrified passengers on their way home from a day at the Mohegan Sun casino when the driver suddenly blacked out behind the wheel.

“I didn't know it was marijuana,” Jinhuan Chen said through a Chinese interpreter as he stood before Superior Court Judge Ndidi Moses Tuesday afternoon. “I didn't know.”

But Senior Assistant State's Attorney Nicholas Bove told the judge that Chen was just lucky no one was injured on the bus.

He urged the judge to set a high bond for Chen, who is charged with 38 counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.

Judge Moses ordered Chen held in lieu of $25,000 bond and continued the case to Aug. 25.

According to state police, shortly after 3 p.m. on March 13, a trooper was dispatched for reports of a coach bus on the side of I-95 southbound near Exit 30 in Stratford.

State police said the driver, later identified as Chen, was slumped in the driver's seat unconscious. One of the passengers told the trooper he saw Chen eating something from a bag next to his seat before he passed out.

Police said they found an open bag of “Smokies Edibles Cannabis Infused Fruit Chews” next to the driver.

Chen was taken to Bridgeport Hospital where police said he was found to have a high level of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his blood stream.

Police said the passengers, given a choice to wait for a new bus, chose instead to use a ride-sharing service to get home.

Chen was arrested on a warrant at his Boston home on Monday.

“The driver didn't know there was marijuana in the candy,” said Victor Chen, the manager of Go Go Sun Tour, the defendant's employer.

Victor Chen told Hearst Connecticut Media that Jinhuan Chen had been driving for the Bostonbased company for 10 years and has an exemplary record.

“He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke but he has a sweet tooth and likes candy,” Victor Chen said. “He picked up a bag of candy at a local market here and didn't know it had marijuana in it,” he continued. “This would never have happened a couple of years ago but now there's marijuana everywhere here.”