South Carolina Father Arrested After Forcing School Bus Off the Road Over Alleged Assault on Son

Anthony Chavis (L), and Sharona Ford Cooper (R)

A South Carolina father, Anthony Chavis, has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies after allegedly chasing down a school bus carrying 19 children and forcing it off the road in response to claims that a bus monitor had assaulted his child earlier in the day.

The chaotic incident unfolded on May 22 in Marlboro County after Chavis was reportedly notified by school officials that his son had been involved in an altercation with the school bus monitor, Sharona F. Cooper. Both Chavis and Cooper were taken into custody and now face serious charges.

Chavis is charged with interfering with the operation of a school bus, child endangerment, threatening the life of a public official — specifically the school principal — aggravated breach of peace, malicious injury to government property, and disruption of a school by a non-student. Cooper is facing one count of third-degree assault.

According to the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office, the sequence of events began when students reported that Cooper had “physically assaulted a student after the student refused to remain seated” on the bus. Surveillance footage from the school bus reportedly shows Cooper using her arm to restrain the student from moving down the aisle.

Following the incident, Chavis arrived at the school to pick up his five children and became “verbally abusive” toward school administrators and law enforcement personnel, using profanity, racial slurs, and threatening gestures. Later that afternoon, after the bus departed to transport students home, Chavis allegedly followed the bus in his own vehicle and forced it off the road by using his car to block its path. Authorities confirmed that Chavis’s vehicle made contact with the bus during the pursuit.

“As Chavis exited his vehicle, he struck the bus numerous times with his fist and attempted to forcibly open the entrance door of the bus, which was unsuccessful and resulted in damage,” the sheriff's office said. “As the bus managed to maneuver around Chavis’s vehicle, he threw an object at it, striking and damaging the back glass.”

Inside the bus at the time were 19 children, a bus driver, and the same female bus monitor involved in the earlier incident. Chavis's five children were in his own car during the entire event.

Investigators confirmed that the confrontation was also captured on bus surveillance footage. Chavis remains in custody without bond due to being out on bond for a prior assault case at the time of the incident. Cooper remains detained awaiting a bond hearing.