Carson City deputies are investigating an incident on a Carson City school bus Thursday afternoon in which a student was struck by a classmate and suffered a "serious" eye injury, said Sheriff Ken Furlong.
Furlong said that as the bus was taking students home, it made a stop on Curry Street to allow passengers off. At some point prior to or during the stop, a 15-year-old student struck a 14-year-old boy. The punch sent the boy's head into the bus window, which broke, said Furlong.
However, the bus driver did not report the incident and dropped the injured boy off at his normal stop, said the sheriff.
When the teen got home, he began to vomit and was taken by ambulance to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. From there, he was flown by Care Flight to a Reno hospital for a fractured eye socket, said Furlong.
It was at the Carson hospital that police learned of the assault, said Furlong. He said it's unclear why the school bus driver did not call police.
"This kid has substantial injury and there was damage to the bus. Why wouldn't the bus driver call the cops?" Furlong asked.
According to police records, when the 15-year-old arrived at Carson Middle School on Friday morning, the vice principal called police to have him removed from the premises. The teen was arrested and booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of battery causing substantial bodily harm, said Furlong.
School Superintendent Mary Pierczynski confirmed there was an assault on the school bus but was unable to say whether or not the driver had reported it to transportation supervisors.
"It was our understanding that a student hit another student, and we've taken appropriate disciplinary actions with the student and the authorities have been brought in," she said.
"We are going to be investigating and talking with that driver on Monday. Our normal procedure in something like this is the driver would be on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation."
• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.