Sixth grader leaves note on car after bus driver allegedly fled scene of accident
By: Nikki DeMentri
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When a man's car was damaged in an alleged hit-and-run accident, it was a note from a sixth grader who helped him find who was responsible.
According to Andrew Sipowicz, he received an anonymous note on his car from a student at Houghton Academy explaining that she had been aboard a bus that had damaged his car in an accident. The bus driver then fled the scene.
Sipowicz shared the note alongside two pictures on his Twitter feed with the caption: "Shoutout to the anonymous 6th grader for saving me a couple thousand (Bus not drawn to scale)."
As of early Wednesday afternoon, Sipowicz's tweet has been liked more than half a million times and retweeted more than 100,000 times.
He later noted on Twitter that he had found the girl who wrote the letter and was "in the process of finding a way to reward her for her actions."
Shoutout to the anonymous 6th grader for saving me a couple thousand (Bus not drawn to scale) pic.twitter.com/7aNK10xSwX
— Andrew Sipowicz (@Andrew_Sipowicz) November 20, 2018
A copy of the young student's note can be read below.
If you wondering what happen to your car.
Bus: 449 hit your car It stops here everyday to drop me off.
At 5:00pm.
What happened? She was trying to pull off and hit the car. She hit and run. She tried to tear over and squeeze threw but couldn't. She actually squeezed threw. She made a dent and I saw what happened.
-Sorry
-Driver seat left door
-A lady in the bus driver seat 499.
-Buffalo Public School bus
-A 6th grader at Houghten Academy
She also included a drawing of the bus that hit the car.
Vice Principal Kevin Garcia of Houghton Academy said the school will be "celebrating her outstanding leadership" and presenting her with a citizenship award in the upcoming weeks. The student's teacher also took to Twitter to share his congrats.
Proud teacher moment. One of my students wasn't afraid to be a 'snitch' and did the good deed. NO THANKSGIVING HOMEWORK! https://t.co/Wu9IG8Q3bf
— Nick Kiser (@Kiser18) November 21, 2018
"Kudos to the 6th grader. We always tell our students if they see something to say something," a Buffalo Schools spokeswoman said,
According to Sipowicz, a representative from the company that operates the bus, First Student, contacted him to take a report of the incident. First Student issued the statement below,
HAPPENING NOW: First Student is in the process of terminating this bus driver based on the incident. Buffalo middle schoolers note goes viral @WKBW https://t.co/LInfh9L009 pic.twitter.com/iBcEnW2Z6u
— Hannah Buehler (@HannahBuehler) November 21, 2018