School bus driver in Brookfield charged with driving impaired

Woman carried loaded weapon while driving about 30 students

A bus driver in Brookfield was intoxicated and carrying a loaded weapon as she drove children to school last week, according to a criminal complaint obtained Wednesday.

Penny L. Wolf, 43, was impaired by a stimulant when she picked up and dropped off about 30 students Friday at Swanson Elementary School, Brookfield police said. Wolf also had a handgun with six bullets in it in the pocket of her jacket, investigators said.

At the time, Wolf was an employee of First Student Inc., a private contractor. She had prior drunken driving convictions in 1989 and 2004, which are found in court records under her maiden name.

Chris Kemper, a spokesman for First Student, said the company has started the process of firing Wolf, who had been employed by the company for about a year and a half.

Wolf passed the company’s background check and drug screening, had no recent red flags in her driving history and “did appear to be an appropriate hire through our processes,” Kemper said.

Company officials are still investigating whether Wolf’s prior drunken driving convictions were caught during a background check and whether they would have barred her hiring, Kemper said.

“When incidents such as this arise, First Student has a zero-tolerance policy for actions that might put others at risk,” Kemper said. “Behaviors such as this are unacceptable.”

Police responded Friday after receiving reports that Wolf was driving erratically as she left the school. In interviews with police, parents of students on the bus and employees at the school reported Wolf was swerving, missing stop signs, hitting curbs and speeding.

Wolf agreed to a breath test, which did not register any alcohol. But she failed a field sobriety test, leading police to suspect she was under the influence of a stimulant.

Police found Wolf carrying a bottle with three Adderall pills, but the criminal complaint didn’t say whether tests showed she had taken any pills.

Wolf told investigators that icy roads caused her to slide through a stop sign and bump a curb, and she forgot the weapon was in her jacket.

Wolf faces charges of operating while intoxicated, controlled substance possession and firearm possession on school grounds.