Gary school official denies driving around stopped school bus

Despite receiving a ticket from Gary police, the director of communications for the Gary Community School Corp. denies driving around a stopped school bus on Oct. 29.

According to the complaint filed Oct. 31, Chelsea Whittington was stopped at 7:50 a.m. by Patrolman Terry Peck who said she disregarded a stop arm on a Gary school bus on Grant Street, just south of 5th Avenue.

Whittington said Tuesday she stopped for the bus and she’s contesting the complaint. She has a Dec. 14 date in Gary City Court for the reckless driving ticket, a Class A misdemeanor.

Simon Lillie, director of security for the school district, said camera footage from the school bus confirms Whittington did not drive around the stop arm.

He said the bus was equipped with four cameras and none of them captured a vehicle driving around the stop arm. “The school district and bus company won’t be moving forward in filing charges,” he said.

“I actually did stop. The officer was behind the bus. I was next to the bus and allowed the children to cross,” Whittington said.

“I wasn’t at fault. The stop sign was up. I saw a young man and younger child and they crossed the street,” she said. “Then, I went on.”

Whittington, a former press secretary to Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, said she was stopped several blocks away and taken to the police station.

She said she’ll ask for an internal investigation of the arrest.

“Why is it three different media called the police and I hadn’t been there less than hour? There was an attempt to have me tried before I could even get a ticket. I’m 100% sure I stopped… I feel my privacy was violated and I didn’t break the law.”

Peck said he’s not legally authorized to speak about the event.

In August, police gave stop-arm violation tickets to Lake County Court Clerk Lorenzo Arredondo in Merrillville and to former Lake County Sheriff Rogelio “Roy” Dominguez in Hobart.

Arredondo has a Nov. 18 date in Merrillville Town Court, according to court records.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.