North County Bus Driver Arrested on Suspicion of DUI

By MORGAN COOK mcook@nctimes.com | Posted: June 1, 2010 5:32

Sheriff's deputies stopped a North County Transit District bus Tuesday afternoon and arrested the driver on
suspicion of driving while intoxicated, Encinitas traffic Sgt. Mark O'Connor said.

O'Connor said a passenger who had recently gotten off of the bus told dispatchers that the driver was making
unscheduled stops and appeared to be drunk, O'Connor said.

According to early reports from a sheriff's department dispatcher, the passenger said he was on the bus when the
driver pulled over and got out to urinate in the bushes.

He said a deputy stopped the bus carrying eight passengers at 479 Encinitas Blvd. at about 4:25 p.m. and
arrested the driver, David Joseph Costello, 40, after conducting a field sobriety test. Costello is suspected of
driving a commercial vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, according to the Sheriff's Department.

A spokesman for NCTD, which provides bus and train service across North County, confirmed the arrest but
did not confirm the driver's name. The spokesman, Alex Wiggins, said the bus was traveling along route 309,
which carries passengers between Oceanside and Encinitas along El Camino Real.

He said the driver was employed by First Transit, a private Ohio-based transit company that operates the route
under contract with the district.

The district voted in November to outsource approximately 325 bus workers, including about 240 drivers and
85 mechanics and maintenance workers to the company.

He said NCTD would work with First Transit to investigate the incident and take appropriate disciplinary action
if it confirms that the driver was drinking on the job. He did not say what that action might be.

"One thing I would like to stress is that we take the safety issue very, very seriously," Wiggins said. "Safety is
paramount to us."

Wiggins said a different driver took over the bus' route after the arrest.