A bus driver hired to transport the Pittsburgh Pirates was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) on Thursday, police said.
According to Illinois State Police (ISP), troopers noticed 61-year-old Ronald E. Funderburke driving erratically as he was transporting the Pirates from Chicago to Milwaukee following their loss against the Cubs that night.
ICYMI: A bus driver contracted to drive the Pittsburgh Pirates from Chicago to Milwaukee on Thursday night was arrested for DUI after the team's police escort noticed he was driving erratically.https://t.co/EdVXXRF5Wv
— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) June 17, 2023
“During the escort, the bus driver, 61-year-old Ronald E. Funderburke from Shelby, NC, was not following the escort and was traveling away from the escorting officers,” an ISP spokesperson said in a written statement. “Troopers observed more erratic driving and stopped the bus on the right shoulder of Interstate 94 northbound at Dempster Street.”
“After observing multiple signs of impairment, troopers arrested Funderburke for driving under the influence of alcohol and transported him to Chicago Police Department 16th District,” the statement continued.
The troopers then pulled over the Funderburke after noticing his unusual behavior when the car was on Interstate 94. According to a radio transmission archived by crimeisdown.com, police initially thought that the driver might be having a “medical emergency.”
But according to the spokesperson, the police decided to detain Funderburke and charge him with DUI after noticing “multiple signs of impairment.” They did not reply to a follow-up inquiry seeking the driver’s blood alcohol content.
Brian Warecki, the Pirates’ senior vice president of communications, confirmed the incident in an emailed statement on Friday.
“We are deeply concerned regarding what transpired last night. The important thing is that all of our personnel arrived in Milwaukee safely,” Warecki wrote. “Buses are contracted out to a local provider, which was consistent with this trip, and we are now in communication with the appropriate parties regarding this matter.”
On average, 10,000 people lose their lives each year in DUI collisions. The majority of traffic-related deaths are caused by these accidents. The number of people hurt in crashes caused by drunk or drugged drivers reaches the hundreds of thousands.
Had the bus crashed, it might have killed members of the Pirates or any innocent bystanders on the road. Bus-related crashes are particularly lethal, most recently in the case of a bus accident in Canada where 15 people lost their lives.
