Cobb school bus driver arrested, accused of misdemeanor criminal offenses

A Cobb County magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant last week for a Cobb County school bus driver accused of two misdemeanor criminal offenses against a 10-year-old student in 2019. The incident led the boy’s father to hire legal help after becoming frustrated with the school district’s failure to act on the issue.

The bus driver, Richard Tebbens, 61, of Powder Springs, has been charged with assault and battery in connection with the case. A Cobb Magistrate Court judge ordered Tebbens to turn himself in and arrest records show he did. He was released a short time later on his own recognizance. Accused of two misdemeanors criminal offenses, simple assault and simple battery, Temmens will be prosecuted by the Cobb Solicitor General’s office.

The arrest warrant states Tebbens “intentionally caused physical harm” to the student, when he jerked and pulled the “juvenile victim to move the child into his seat the way he said the child needed to be seated. Said accused moved the juvenile in aggressive (manner) while yelling and using profanity in front of other juveniles also on the bus,” the warrant said.

The student’s father told a local tv station that when the incident happened in 2019, he went to the school district to complain. After getting no results from grievances to the transportation department, the HR department, or the school board, the father sought help from the court. Tebbens’ arrest warrant was based on evidence presented by the student’s father and his attorney during a warrant application hearing, which included witness testimony and video footage from the school bus.

The student’s father has mentioned race as a possible hinderance of justice for his son with the Cobb school Board. The student is Black while Tebbens is white. “I do wonder if the races were reversed if it would have been this hard,” said the father.

According to online salary records, Tebbens has continued in his employment with the school district since the 2019 incident.