SAYREVILLE ? To a kid on his block, Michael Cianci was the spitting image of the wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and was "a nice guy."
To adults on his block he was a nice guy who would say, "hi and bye" and bother no one.
But to police in New York, the 38-year-old school bus driver was creator of The Death Cheese Club, the self-proclaimed "Emperor," who created a
pecking order among students he drove daily to the Tottenville Intermediate School.
Cianci was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was released after paying $500 in bail. He was
suspended without pay from a job that reportedly paid about $1,000 a week.
"It was the "Lord of the Flies' with adult supervision," said William Smith, spokesman for Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, making
reference to a 1954 novel about a group of boys who went to war with each other after being stranded on an island after a plane crash.
According to police, Cianci allowed students on the bus to "enforce certain rules of the bus by using methods including, but not limited to, pushing
other students and placing students in headlocks with the permission, both explicit and implicit of (Cianci)."
He had been a certified bus driver for 15 years and never had a complaint filed against him.
"If these charges are true, we will never let him near our children again,"
New York City Department of Education attorney Michael Best told the New York Post.
According to a pecking order, written by a student identifying himself as "Lord Matt," the pecking order according to the "Death Cheese Laws" began
with "Emperor (Supreme Ruler)" and "Lord (Apprentice of Emperor)" and was followed by such names as Darth, Master, Sith Warrior, Jaba and Spedi.
To those below the four leaders was the note, "Mercy will not be tolerated."
Following his arraignment Thursday Cianci did not talk to reporters. But his mother was quoted by two New York tabloids, saying, "My son is just a big
law-abiding, working slob. Whatever happened, it's either a mistake or an irate father trying to make trouble."
His story, accompanied by a pictures of him wearing a Yankees' shirt to his arraignment, made Page One of the New York Post, sharing the cover with a
fashion model and Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Though no serious injuries were reported, one student told authorities that others cut his jacket and when he notified Cianci, he neither helped him
nor reported the incident.
The mother of the unidentified student told The Daily News: "He was a target. I'm appalled because I think I'm putting him on a safe bus."
The woman, unaware of what was happening on the bus, said she gave Cianci a Christmas tip.
No one answered the door at Cianci's home in Parlin yesterday afternoon.
One neighbor, Nagi Zaki, who was unaware of the charges, said of Cianci, "He never had trouble with the neighbors. It was just "hi and bye' and that
was it."
"My impression was that he was a nice guy," said another neighbor, Ronald Pangilinan.JawnDiablo - 2-4-2006 at 11:35 PM
the buses in my school district were a joke too
the father of the dude from cinderella drove the bus
you could smoke refer out the window and noone cared....gavin - 2-4-2006 at 11:41 PM
id kill this dudeBDx13 - 2-4-2006 at 11:51 PM
a grand a week?newbreedbrian - 2-5-2006 at 12:59 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by BD
a grand a week?
XnMeX - 2-5-2006 at 07:30 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by BD
a grand a week?
I know someone who is gonna apply to be a bus driver now.
