MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Marsai Catron may be smiling in his mug shot, but parents are doing anything but.
Police reported Catron was toting drugs on a bus full of children on Saturday.
“They have our children’s lives in their hand,” Candice Morris said.
Catron was fired from Durham Bus Services.
A spokesperson for Shelby County Schools said Catron drove a group of students to a basketball event at Bellevue Middle School.
Police claim Catron was caught with several grams of marijuana after someone complained about the massive odor of drugs.
“I think it’s very concerning,” Morris said. “I think that they really need to pay more attention to who they’re hiring to transport our children.”
WREG did some digging into Catron’s troubled past.
Catron was cited twice for driving with a suspended license, but the charges were later thrown out.
Court records reveal Catron also had a violent history.
VIOLENT PAST | Catron pleads guilty to 2009 aggravated assault charge
The 29-year-old plead guilty to an aggravated assault charge from a 2009 incident where police report gun shots were fired.
“The last thing we need is someone that’s a convicted felon that could be violent, that’s on drugs, you know any of these things,” Morris explained.
Parents like Morris, who put their children on the bus everyday to go to school, said this arrest needs to be a wake up call for something to change.
“He’s trusted to watch over our children. This is a very concerning situation. So hopefully they’ll start doing background checks a little bit more thorough,” Morris said.
WREG reached out to Durham Bus Services over the weekend for more information on Catron, but no one from the company returned our phone calls.
A Shelby County Schools District spokesperson issued the following statement on Sunday:
The Durham driver who was arrested for drug charges on Saturday has been fired. This incident is a serious violation of the strict employment guidelines that are enforced as part of our contract with Durham School Services, and immediate action was taken as a result.
This was an unfortunate incident, and our current contractual provisions adequately address driver qualifications and District requirements. This is evident by the swift removal of the driver by Durham.
