The Santa Barbara party bus driver accused of picking up dozens of teenagers who had alcohol and marijuana on board last year when police arrived has been charged again, related to a February incident in which officers boarded the bus and found underage foreign-exchange students with alcohol.
Alonzo Houston, 49, is a driver for D&D Limo Bus, and is being charged in connection with two separate incidents of having underage passengers and alcohol on board.
He is facing the same charges for each incident, which happened on Nov. 21, 2014 and Feb. 18, 2015, – contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, and violating the California Vehicle Code section pertaining to having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle’s passenger area, according to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office.
On the night of Nov. 21, officers from the Santa Barbara Police Department and California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control responded to Santa Barbara High School to find a chartered party bus that had pulled onto campus to pick up 62 junior high and high school students.
The officers, who had been tipped off to the event, found the students drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and urinating near the campus’ main entrance before the bus pulled up and the kids piled on.
After busting the event, authorities pursued charges against three juveniles on the bus, including the 14-year-old girl who booked the event, and the driver, Houston.
D&D Limo Bus manager Michael Jones told Noozhawk at the time charges were filed that the November booking never started since there was no chaperone on board and the bus never started or left the pickup spot.
In a Feb. 18 incident, SBPD Officer Mark Corbett pulled over a bus from the same company — with the same driver at the wheel — and found a group of underage exchange students on board with alcohol in the vehicle, police told Noozhawk.
Corbett, a nightlife enforcement officer, was also the one who responded first to the bus at Santa Barbara High School in November.
The District Attorney’s Office filed charges this week against Houston in this second incident, filing deputy Lee Carter said.
D&D Limo Bus could not be reached for comment on the new charges.
— Noozhawk news editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.