Police Investigate After Boy, 4, Left on Bus for 5 Hours

Police are investigating after a 4-year-old boy with special needs was left on a school bus in Jersey City, N.J., for about four hours Wednesday morning.

The child was supposed to be dropped off at a school for special needs kids but was found several blocks away by a mechanic for the private operator of the bus, Atlantic Express.

He was taken to the hospital for evaluation and is "doing pretty good," according to Police Chief Thomas Comey.

Comey visited the boy and his mother Wednesday afternoon.

"I have to commend the mechanic because he didn't want to alarm the child at all," Comey said. "He took the extra steps of driving the bus up to the front of the yard to emergency personnel as they responded, because he did not want to cause the child any stress."

A spokeswoman for the company said the driver was fired, and said it has "zero tolerance for any lapses in our strict protocols and policies for checking buses and making sure all children are accounted for."

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