Omaha Police say the driver of the school van that never dropped a 5-year-old boy off at home Wednesday night has been cited for child neglect.
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According to OPD, officers responded to the 4700 block of Nicholas at 6:53 p.m. to investigate a report of a missing 5-year-old boy, Samuel Bik.
Bik's father and brother told officers that Bik attends Field Club School, and is usually dropped off at home by a van. Bik was never dropped off though.
Officers searched the area and were unable to located Samuel Bik after he was reported missing Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators interviewed the van driver, 61-year-old Claude Pope who said that he had dropped the boy off at his home.
Officers then went to the facility where the student vans are located and found Bik sitting in a seat inside the van. Bik was reunited with his parents.
Officers cited Pope for child neglect.
The driver was a contractor with ENCAP.
OPS statement from Wednesday night:
"OPS became aware of this situation at approximately 6 p.m. We are relieved that the child was found safe. This was an OPS contracted van.
The contractor is ENCAP.
We expect our contractor to take appropriate action with the driver involved and to cooperate fully with law enforcement. We will take the appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen again.
OPS representatives have been in direct contact with the family.
We will continue looking into this situation with the contractor to find out why this student was overlooked."
