FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) — A Walton County woman who is an Okaloosa County bus driver was arrested Thursday on one count of child abuse.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says 56-year-old Evelyn Fields is accused of forcefully shaking the arms of a wheelchair bound, non-verbal child. That child also has a condition that causes weak bones.
Investigators say the incident occurred the afternoon of August 16 on a Silver Sands School bus in Fort Walton Beach.
The boy had reportedly been clapping and making noises, something those who know him say he does when he’s happy.
A bus camera video shows Fields yelling in the child’s face, forcefully shaking his arms and poking him in the side of the head, investigators said.
The victim’s father told investigators Fields did not have permission to put her hands on his son.