School Bus Driver Arrested for DWI in Ronkonkoma Crash

Robert Stundis had an open bottle of vodka on board the school bus, police said

A school bus driver on Long Island has been arrested for driving while intoxicated, authorities said, the second case there in less than a week.

Robert Stundis, 48, of Bohemia, was charged after submitting to blood alcohol testing at the scene of a bus crash on the westbound Long Island Expressway, near exit 60 in Ronkonkoma, at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday. 

Stundis was driving the Ford minibus when it crashed. No students were no board -- Stundis said he'd dropped off students from a middle school earlier -- but authorities recovered an open bottle of vodka from the bus. 

"As soon as we interviewed him, we knew he was intoxicated," said responding Suffolk Deputy Sheriff Thomas Carlo.

Stundis' blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit, police said. 

The driver worked for Acme Bus Corp. in Ronkonkoma. The company did not return calls to NBC 4 New York Thursday. 

Stundis was to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Thursday. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney. 

This was the second school bus driver to be charged with DWI on Long Island in less than a week. Last Thursday, Frederick Flowers was arrested after crashing into a home in Syosset. There were children on board the bus, but none were injured.

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