Bus driver and monitor charged after autistic teenager left on bus overnight

Phillip Anderson, 16, is autistic and had attended an event in New Rochelle and was set to be dropped off directly at his home – also in New Rochelle – at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, but 10 hours later there was no sign of him. The teenager was finally discovered in the First Student Inc. bus garage on Friday morning, still on the bus.

Autistic teenager missing for 10 hours – his mother frantic

After Phillip didn't return home, his mother was worried and reported him missing. The Bus Driver, Laikhraj Prashad Persaud and Bus Monitor, Iakua Heywood both lied, saying they had dropped the boy at his home.

Heywood told the police that she watched Phillip leave the bus and enter his home, but his mother, Cynthia Anderson, said that was not the case.

According to the GPS, the bus never went to the teenager’s home

As reported by NBC New York, the police launched a search for the boy that went on for hours, with no success, until they finally tracked the autistic teenager down to the parking garage belonging to the company who owned the student bus. It was after checking the GPS on the bus that police discovered the it had never stopped at Phillip’s home, leading them to check the garage – located in Mount Vernon – and finally find Phillip, still sitting alone on the bus. Fortunately the teenager was found to be in good health and was then reunited with his mother.

Bus driver and bus monitor both facing charges

Both Persaud, who lives in the Bronx, and Heywood are now facing charges of reckless endangerment along with endangering the welfare of a child for not taking Phillip home as they were supposed to do.

Phillip's mother, Cynthia, spoke to ABC7, telling them that because Phillip is autistic, he has to have a set routine and has trouble expressing himself. She said he can communicate, but not by using sentences.

This is why she was frantic when the teenager didn’t arrive home on time. She said when they finally brought Phillip home, he was in shock and was cold, but after getting checked out by a doctor, he is fine.