Drunk school bus driver sentenced to one day in jail + fines after drunk driving with 18 kids on board

A drunk school bus driver was sentenced to one day in jail plus fines after deputies found him crossing the double yellow line during his route. 

44-year-old Anthony Stephen Israelson was sentenced on April 13th for the September 2024 incident in St. Louis County, Minnesota. 

According to Fox9, police were first called in September of 2024 the night before the incident when a patron at a bar Israelson was drinking at contacted law enforcement with concerns about him driving in the morning. 

As a result of the call, deputies met with Isaelson at his home at about 6:30 a.m., where he told police that he was not working that day. Authorities later discovered that Israelson was indeed working that day, so officers responded to his route to observe his driving. An officer witnessed Israelson cross the double yellow line in a school bus, so he was pulled over. 

Israelson was found to have a BAC of .161 and was placed under arrest. There were 18 children ranging from kindergarten to 10th grade on the bus at the time of his arrest.  

Israelson has since been convicted of driving a school bus under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle while impaired. He is required to serve one day in jail and 120 days of electronic home monitoring.

He will remain on supervised probation for two years and must pay $500 in fines by Friday, April 24, 2026.