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Child, 2, left on school bus alone by driver: Cops

By Steve Mosco

CORONA — A 2-year-old girl was forgotten aboard a private school bus last Thursday after her driver parked the vehicle on a Corona street and went home, police said.

The child, Samantha Bustamante, was rescued unharmed after a passing Con Edison worker spotted her inside the bus on Christie Avenue and 99th Street in Corona and notified authorities.

Cops arrested bus driver Ana Garcia, 62, near her home and charged her with failure to exercise control of a minor, according to the 110th Precinct.

The toddler’s mother, Sandra Ramos, 24, put her daughter on the bus at 7:20 a.m. More than two hours later, a worker from Kathy’s Day Care in Corona called Ramos asking why her daughter was not in attendance.

Police said Garcia missed the girl while checking the bus, locked up and went home. Officers called to the scene broke a bus window to get to the child, who they believe was left in the bus for about 15 minutes.

She was reunited with her mother at the precinct after an EMS evaluation.