Police: Intoxicated man rides school bus, enters high school in Montgomery County

AMBLER, Pa. (FOX 29) - Lower Gwynedd Township police say an intoxicated man walking home on Friday morning boarded a school bus, rode to a high school, entered the school and was later apprehended by police outside the school.

According to authorities Dominic Herder, 20, was on his way home after a late night party stretched into the early morning hours. Still intoxicated from the party, Herder, who is not from the area, was believed to be trying to get home.

Police say Herder happened upon the Wissahickon High School bus and thought it would take him closer to his home and boarded the bus at a normal stop.

Herder, who is said to look like a high school aged student, entered the high school among the crowd of students.

Students on the bus recognized Herder and immediately alerted a resource officer upon arriving at school.

When approached by officers, Herder tried to flee out the front door of the school and was detained across the street after a brief chase.

The school was evacuated and a sweep of the building was conducted to ensure that Herder did not do anything malicious while on the premises.

Herder was charged with trespassing, public drunkenness and other offenses. Police believe he did not want to harm anyone.

School officials say that they will reassess their current vetting system to keep incidents like this from happening again.