Trial set in school bus driver assault case

The Cleveland Heights man accused of injuring a Willoughby school bus driver is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 11.

The Cleveland Heights man accused of severely injuring a Willoughby school bus driver is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 11 in Lake County Common Pleas Court.

Willoughby police issued a warrant for 37-year-old Ronnie Haskins March 6 after he allegedly punched the 70-year-old school bus driver in the face March 2.

Haskins turned himself in to Willoughby police on March 7.

He is charged with felony charges of assault, which carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison, and inducing panic, which has a maximum penalty of 18 months behind bars.

According to police, they responded to Grant Elementary School on Lost Nation Road in Willoughby at 4:25 p.m., March 2, for a disturbance in the parking lot. At the scene, officers learned that an assault had taken place inside one of the school buses.

The incident occurred when one of the buses was attempting to leave the school’s lot to take students home and an unknown car stopped along the bus.

Police allege Haskins stepped out of the side of the car and approached the bus doors. The bus driver opened the doors to see what Haskins wanted. Haskins said he wanted to take his daughter off the bus and when the driver refused, Haskins allegedly threatened the bus driver. He then walked onto the bus and allegedly punched the driver in the face.

Haskins and his daughter walked off the bus and got into the stopped vehicle with an unknown woman waiting on the driver’s side.

The car left before police arrived.

Police searched the area and other locations looking for several hours for the student. They learned later that evening the student was with her mother.

Haskins, who is represented by the Lake County Public Defender’s Office, is out of jail after posting a $5,000 cash bond.

Conditions of the bond forbid Haskins from having contact with the alleged victim and bar him from Willoughby-Eastlake School District properties.

The incident occurred when one of the buses was attempting to leave the school’s lot to take students home.

Haskins