CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - Cellphone video shows concerned University of Miami students confronting their shuttle driver and calling police after they suspected him of driving under the influence.
The scary situation Monday left students fearing for their lives after they noticed their shuttle driver appeared to be drunk and driving recklessly.
“What’s going on, sir?” a student asked the driver, later identified as 45-year-old Timothy Kowalewski.
“Nothing,” Kowalewski is heard saying.
The video shows the bus driver swaying and sweating.
The frightening ordeal started during the students’ regular shuttle ride between UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science in Virginia Key and the Coral Gables campus, when they noticed Kowalewski was driving erratically.
At several points during the ride, students said, Kowalewski ran into trees, poles and curbs while also making sudden U-turns and stopping on U.S. 1 before those on board managed to convince him to pull off the busy freeway near Le Jeune Road.
A student told 7News that Kowalewski didn’t seem to care that he had crashed into a tree while attempting an illegal U-turn.
“When he made the illegal U-turn on U.S. 1 into the gas station and, like, ran over a palm tree and was very unbothered by that, that’s when I was just a little concerned,” the student said.
The student had been taking the shuttle driven by Kowalewski for the whole semester up until this point.
“It’s really unsettling, because this is the same driver who’s been taking me to campus this entire semester,” he said.
Video provided to 7News by one of the students shows the moment several students confronted Kowalewski, asking him to shift the bus into park.
“Please put the bus in park,” a student tells Kowalewski.
He initially insisted the bus was already in park when a student corrected him.
“It’s not in park. It’s not, so please put the bus in park. Thank you” said a student.
That was when students noticed a strong scent of alcohol coming from Kowalewski.
“Did you have anything to drink? Because you smell like a lot of alcohol,” a student said.
“No, it’s not that,” Kowalewski said.
As they peppered him with questions on his sobriety, Kowalewski is seen rapidly tapping his foot against the floor.
“It’s OK?” Kowalewski said.
“Are you sure?” a student said.
“Yeah,” Kowalewski said.
“I’m going to call an ambulance for you,” another student said.
After the bus was finally brought to a safe stop, students alerted Coral Gables Police.
“I’ll have rescue arrive. When they come, he’ll check you out, OK?” an officer told a concerned student upon their arrival.
“He was under the influence when he drove us to the campus,” a student said.
The arrest report states the suspect “spontaneously stated, ‘I woke up this morning and decided alcohol.'”
Kowalewski refused a Breathalyzer and a sobriety exercise, but the report further states that an officer “observed he had red, watery eyes, and the smell of an unknown alcoholic beverage was emitting from his breath.”
The arrest report goes on to say, “The defendant was also heavily slurring his words and was unsteady on his feet. The defendant was losing his balance while walking and was swaying side to side while walking.”
That’s when Kowalewski was placed under arrest.
The university said the suspect is not an employee at the school but works for a third-party bus company. A spokesperson issued a statement on the incident which reads:
“The incident involving a University of Miami campus shuttle is under further investigation by the Coral Gables Police Department. The safety of our students, faculty and staff members, and the greater University community remains our top priority.”
Jail records show Kowalewski faces two charges related to driving under the influence and causing a crash with damage to property. He has since bonded out of jail.
A 7News crew went to Kowalewski’s home on Wednesday, but no one answered the door.
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