BEND, Ore. (Apr. 9. 2026) — A Bend-La Pine Schools bus driver was arrested April 3 on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless endangering after school officials reported concerns about her condition while operating a school bus, police said.
Officers responded around 6:45 p.m. Friday after a transportation employee for the school district contacted nonemergency dispatch to report that a driver may have been under the influence of alcohol while on duty.
The driver, identified as 67-year-old Bend resident Martha Ann Gerlicher, had earlier completed a route for Pine Ridge Elementary School and was at High Desert Middle School preparing to begin another route, according to Bend Police.
A transportation employee told police that Gerlicher had called the transportation office reporting that the brakes on her bus were not working. When the employee arrived at High Desert Middle School at about 3:15 p.m., she found no mechanical issues with the bus but suspected Gerlicher was intoxicated.
The employee removed Gerlicher from the bus and transported her to a private testing facility, where breath samples indicated high levels of alcohol, authorities said.
Several hours later, officers went to Gerlicher’s home and took her into custody. She was transported to the Bend Police Department, where at about 11 p.m. — roughly seven hours after the initial breath test — she registered a blood alcohol content of 0.16%, police said.
Gerlicher was later booked into the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of DUII and reckless endangering. No injuries were reported, and it was not immediately clear whether students were on board the bus at the time of the incident.
The investigation remains ongoing.
All suspects are believed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law
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