Baltimore County officials examined how a child’s backpack became trapped as her school bus pulled away from a Glen Arm stop.
GLEN ARM, Md. — Baltimore County school and police officials investigated how a school bus began moving while a 4-year-old preschooler’s backpack remained caught in its doors, an incident that injured the child and left other students aboard the bus upset.
The December 2019 incident involved a student at Pine Grove Elementary School who was getting off a bus near Manor Road and Old Carriage Road. Police said the bus doors closed while the girl was exiting, catching her backpack. The driver then moved the bus forward before it stopped. The child was taken to a hospital with injuries authorities said were not life-threatening.
The episode led Baltimore County Public Schools to address the impact on other students as authorities worked to determine exactly how the incident unfolded. School officials said staff from the school and the transportation department went to the location, and families were told counseling would be available to students who requested support, particularly those who had been riding the bus.
Police said the child was dragged a short distance but initially did not specify how far the bus traveled. The girl’s mother, Christina Lemaire, later told CBS Baltimore that she believed her daughter was dragged about a quarter of a mile and said motorists and students tried to alert the driver. The mother’s estimate went beyond the distance described by police and was not established in the initial official account.
The child returned home after receiving hospital care, according to reporting at the time. Lemaire said her daughter had suffered road rash and other injuries and had not returned to school in the immediate aftermath. She described the experience as traumatic for her daughter.
Residents also described concern among children and families after the incident. One Glen Arm resident told WBAL-TV that a neighbor whose son had been aboard the bus reported that the students were very upset. Community members said they were trying to support the child’s family.
The school system told parents that student safety was its primary concern and acknowledged that the incident could be upsetting. Its decision to make a school counselor available reflected the effect the event had beyond the injured child, including students who were present as it unfolded.
At the same time, investigators faced questions about the sequence of events at the stop. Police had established that the backpack became trapped, the bus moved and the child was injured. Public accounts differed, however, over how far the bus traveled before it stopped.
Lemaire said she intended to pursue legal action and wanted assurances that changes would be made to prevent a similar incident. Baltimore County Public Schools said at the time that its investigation was ongoing and that officials were determining whether disciplinary action would result.
The investigation centered on how the bus was able to move before the young student and her belongings had fully cleared its doors. Authorities had not provided a final public account resolving all of the differing descriptions contained in the reports reviewed for this article.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 26, 2026.