SC man who blocked school bus with wheelchair says why he did it. It wasn’t ‘lunacy’
Doug Champa can understand why it may sound like “lunacy” that he would roll his wheelchair in front of a moving school bus.
But what he doesn’t understand, and disagrees with, is why people are accusing him of endangering students and calling him a menace.
“I was protesting,” the 58-year-old said.
Champa was arrested by Horry County Police on Nov. 22 after he used his wheelchair to block a school bus attempting to drive through his Conway area neighborhood to drop off children. Champa is accused of riding in front of the bus, preventing it from getting around him by moving in its path and slowing the bus down to 5 mph, an arrest warrant said.
His goal was not to get arrested, Champa said, but to make the bus slow down. Champa said buses have been speeding through the neighborhood, going well over the 15 mph speed limit posted on Crusade Circle, where Champa lives with his 88-year-old mother.
“That’s always been my intention to get them to slow down,” Champa said. “Maybe I did fall into the ‘lunacy’ range. I was at my wits end.”
Champa claims that he and his neighbors have been dealing with speeding buses for about three years. He has called the Horry County Schools Transportation department and complained, pleading with them to have the buses slow down, but is always met with the same answer.
Officials tell Champa that the buses have GPS on the vehicles and that it indicates that the buses aren’t speeding.
“As with any driving complaints we receive regarding our fleet (school buses and other district vehicles), our management staff reviews them and handles them like any other personnel matter,” according to Horry County Schools spokesperson Lisa Bourcier in an email. “Unfortunately, Mr. Champa violated South Carolina Code Title 59—Education, Chapter 67, Section 59-67-245 concerning interference with the operation of a school bus. As stated, no person shall willfully interfere with the school bus operations.”
When asked for GPS data on the buses that travel the street, Bourcier said a Freedom of Information Act request would have to be filed for the information.
Some part of the confusion regarding speed could be that the street where Champa lives has a 15 mph speed limit. However, on Drawbridge Drive, the next street over, the speed limit is 25 mph.
Champa said there are children who live along the narrow street, many of them young.
Champa points out that a regular-size vehicle can barely see him when he’s in front of it. A bus definitely wouldn’t be able to and that would be the same for small children.
“They’re pretty big, trust me, I was in front of one last week,” Champa said at his home on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.
Champa was paralyzed after a car accident in 1986. Since that time, the Marine veteran has been in a wheelchair.
Other neighbors also have raised concerns about the speeding and a petition to get speed bumps placed along the roadway was signed by many residents. It is unclear if speed bumps will eventually be placed along the street.
Neighbor Ken Cockerham said he has seen the buses speed in the neighborhood. He will walk his daughter to the bus stop in the morning, and by the time he is walking back to his home, the bus has already looped around and passed him, Cockerham said.
“There’s no way” the bus could do that if it’s not speeding, he said. Cockerham has even timed himself driving 15 mph from the bus stop to his home to prove it, he said.
Cockerham’s daughter rides one of the buses and has told her father that students often must hold as the bus rounds a curve.
Champa said he has spoken with one of the bus drivers before, telling the driver that the speed limit is 15 mph. In a video taken by Cockerham the day Champa got in front of the bus, Champa could be heard telling the driver that the speed limit is 15 mph and that she is speeding. The driver replies back that she’s not.
Police officers later can be seen on the video at Champa’s home.
Champa was released on a $1,000 bond for the charge of interfering with the operation of a school bus.
When asked if he would do it again, Champa hesitates. “I don’t want to go back to jail,” he said. He’s on a fixed income and pays for his mother’s care so he can’t afford a fine or lawyer fees, he said.
He does believe the arrest was overkill, adding that three police officers showed up at his house.
Champa, who says he’s always been an advocate for children and people with disabilities, said he would never physically hurt anybody.
“I think if you stand for something, you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is,” Champa said. But, “they’re making me out to be Al Capone.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
