On May 2, a man was arrested and charged with false imprisonment and substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years, as defined by California Penal Code 1203.066(b).

Arrested was Denis Alcazar, 34, (right) of Los Angeles.

On Oct. 5, 2017, officers from the Glendale Police Dept. responded to a call for service regarding an allegation of possible sexual misconduct. The officers took a report that indicated a 4-year-old child may have had inappropriate contact with her school bus driver, Denis Alcazar.

At the time, Alcazar was a school bus driver employed by the First Student Bus Company. More recently Alcazar was employed as a school bus driver for Brooks Transportation. Both companies contract for various school districts throughout Los Angeles County.

The report sparked an investigation that has identified other victims from Los Angeles and Bell Gardens. On April 25, 2018, detectives from the Glendale Police Dept. filed one count of false imprisonment (Glendale victim) and one count of substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years (Bell Gardens victim) against Alcazar. Denis Alcazar was arrested for the violations on May 2.

According to a Glendale Unified School District statement, a concern about Alcazar was reported to GUSD in fall 2017. GUSD immediately reported this concern to the Dept. of Children and Family Services and Glendale Police Dept. for further investigation and to First Student, which immediately removed Alcazar from all GUSD bus routes. GUSD has already contacted parents of any students who it knows were on a route driven by Alcazar in the past two years.

All GUSD bus service providers are currently equipped with GPS systems to monitor driver activity. Additionally, GUSD is working with transportation providers to ensure all buses are equipped with cameras in the future.

Glendale Police Dept. detectives recognize the potential that there may be more victims. Anyone with additional information regarding this case is asked to call the Glendale Police Detective Bureau at (818) 548-3106.