A central Florida judge is sending a school bus driver to prison for driving 30 students to her house and letting two girls fight in the front yard.
Patrice Sanders, 30, accepted a plea deal Wednesday before Circuit Judge Roger Alcott sentenced her to 21 months in prison for the May 9 incident in Polk County.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office investigated after the mother of a 13-year-old girl complained about the incident. Her daughter was involved in a fight with a 16-year-old girl.
Investigators said Sanders had a bus full of students from three Bartow schools when the two girls began arguing on the bus. They said that's when Sanders decided to drive the entire group to her home, 23 miles away, so the girls could fight it out.
Cellphone video obtained by Channel 9 shows the students fighting both inside and outside the school bus.
In the video, the two girls are seen throwing punches and pulling hair, all while school bus passengers and Sanders watched.
According to the sheriff's office, Sanders drove to her house after the girls began fighting and ordered everyone off the bus. The girls finished their fight and Sanders completed her bus route.
The younger girl told deputies that she told Sanders that she didn't want to fight, but Sanders told her she'd get her some baby oil or Vaseline so her face wouldn't get cut. She said Sanders couldn't find oil or Vaseline and the fight went on, despite the younger girl's objections.
One of the girls involved had to be taken to the hospital hours after fighting a girl three years older than her. Once at the hospital, the girl's mother reported the incident.
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