JUST IN: FCPS bus workers charged with abuse after kid suffers head injury

(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) A former Fairfax County Public Schools bus driver and an attendant have been charged with abuse and neglect after a 3-year-old kid was injured on a ride home from school, police reported today (Monday).

According to the Town of Vienna Police Department, its officers were called to a school bus stop on March 18 in response to a verbal argument between the bus driver and a parent, who requested that their kid be taken to a hospital by Fairfax County firefighters.

“It was later determined that the 3-year-old special needs child had suffered a severe head injury,” Vienna police said.

Rqia Tabite, 36, and Teresa Wessells, 70, both residents of Falls Church, have been charged with one count each of abuse and neglect of a child — a class 4 felony in Virginia — after a Vienna police investigation determined that they had “failed to provide proper care to the child,” according to the news release.

The department says the investigation was done with “the full cooperation” of FCPS, which launched an independent follow-up investigation. An FCPS spokesperson told FFXnow that Tabite and Wessells are no longer employed by the school system.

Fairfax County Child Protective Services also conducted an investigation.

Vienna police obtained warrants on May 19, and Tabite and Wessells were arrested on May 20 by the Fairfax County Police Department. They have since been released on unsecured bonds.

“The child is not being identified at this time but is at home with his family and is receiving necessary treatment,” the VPD said.

In a separate incident, a former FCPS bus driver remains under investigation by Fort Belvoir after allegedly slapping a student on March 16.