ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County sheriff's deputies opened a criminal investigation Monday into allegations that a school bus driver hit and kicked a student.
Lamar Mitchell, 12, told News 6 he was taking the school bus home from Lake Silver Elementary School on Thursday when his driver, Leroy Lee, asked him and his friends to quiet down.
He said soon afterward, Lee pulled the bus over, walked back to him, hit and kicked him.
"I told him to get off me," Mitchell said. "He said, 'I didn't hit you, so shut up. And sit down.'"
Mitchell's mother, Naomi Anderson, took pictures of what appears to be bruising and a swollen eye. His ankle was also wrapped with an elastic bandage.
His uncle, Terrell Anderson, tells News 6 they had insult added to his injuries on Monday when he says they got the runaround when they went looking for answers from Orange County Public Schools.
He said they spent all day traveling from the school to the transportation department and the school district headquarters.
He said that is when they decided to file a criminal complaint.
"It's frustrating," Anderson said. "Mainly it's the calling around, and going to the school and to the school board and getting no answers."
News 6 found out OCPS has suspended the bus driver with pay until their internal investigation is complete.
That investigation could include surveillance footage from the school bus, which the district refuses to release to the public.
OCSO investigators will determine if there is enough evidence to charge Lee with a crime.