Man with 31 charges in Jefferson City school bus incident must get private counsel, court rules
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Boonville man facing nearly three dozen charges after allegedly smashing mailboxes with a school bus containing children must get private counsel.
Robert Hern, 59, was charged in March with first-degree property damage, operating a motor vehicle in a careless manner, leaving the scene of an accident and 28 counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
He was initially ruled indigent and was using a public defender. The public defender filed a motion to reconsider last week and Hern was found not to be indigent at a Friday hearing.
The preliminary hearing originally set for Thursday, July 6, has been moved to 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25,
Cole County Sheriff's deputies were sent to the 3400 block of Schott Road in April after a caller said a bus intentionally hit mailboxes and drove away, Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler's office said in a March news release. The bus stopped at Tomahawk Road and Algoa Road after management ordered Hern to stop, according to a probable cause statement.
Deputies say Hern was arguing with students and told them to get off the bus before telling them to get back on when one student called First Student. Once students were back on the driver "accelerated in reverse," hitting the mailboxes, pulled forward and backed into the mailboxes again before driving away, according to the release.
