Date: April 7, 2026 

Case #: 2026-00017237

Incident: Bend-La Pine Schools bus driver arrested for DUII, reckless endangering

Date of Incident: April 3, 2026 

Arrested: Martha Ann Gerlicher, 67-year-old Bend resident 

Offenses: DUII, Reckless Endangering 

At approximately 6:45 p.m. on Friday, April 3, Bend Police received a call for service from a Bend-La Pine Schools transportation employee, who reported that a bus driver had been under the influence of alcohol while driving a school bus. 

According to the transportation employee, the driver, 67-year-old Martha Ann Gerlicher, called in to the transportation office to report the brakes on her bus weren’t working. Gerlicher had completed a bus route for Pine Ridge Elementary School and was at High Desert Middle School to begin another route. When the transportation employee arrived at High Desert Middle School at approximately 3:15 p.m., she found the bus had no mechanical issues but believed Gerlicher was intoxicated. The employee removed Gerlicher from the bus and took her to a private testing facility for breath samples, which tested positive for high levels of alcohol. 

At approximately 6:45 p.m., the school district contacted nonemergency dispatch to report the incident. Officers responded to Gerlicher’s home, where she was taken into custody. 

Gerlicher was transported to the Bend Police Department, and at 11 p.m., approximately seven hours after the tests at the private facility, Gerlicher registered a 0.16 percent BAC. She was transported to the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of DUII and reckless endangering.