'A shocker for everyone': Driver of bus with 52 kids aboard charged with impaired driving

The driver of a chartered bus with 52 children aboard as been accused of impaired driving by Saskatoon police.

In an email, police said they were called to the scene near Highway 16 and 71st Street around 6 p.m. CST on March 14 after getting a report of an impaired driver operating a chartered bus.

"Upon arrival, officers observed the bus stopped on the roadside and located the driver, believed to be under the influence of an intoxicant, in the back seat of a personal vehicle that had been travelling behind the bus," police spokesman Joshua Grella wrote in an email.

Stacey Petreman, who owns Prince Albert Northern Bus Lines, said in an interview that a passenger on the bus had called him, concerned that the driver was possibly impaired.

"I contacted the police to deal with situation," he said. "This was a shocker for everyone."

He said the driver, who was fired after the incident, had driven for the company for about a decade and had a clean record. 

Richard Arthur Potratz, 70, has been charged with impaired driving and having a blood alcohol level above the legal limit. He is to appear in Saskatoon provincial court on April 28.