Va. Bus Company Did Not Know About Driver's Criminal Record

A Woodbridge bus driver charged in a fatal shooting this week had prior convictions for crack cocaine possession, witness tampering and evidence tampering and served time in federal prison before he began driving buses for the Potomac and Rappahannock Transit Commission five years ago, court records show.

But Glenn K. Wade's criminal background was not discovered by the contractor First Transit before it hired him to drive PRTC buses in 2004, despite the company's policy of "extensive and intensive" background checks on its bus drivers, a First Transit spokeswoman said.

Wade, 40, was charged with murder this week in the shooting death of Darnell McPherson, 32, a fellow PRTC bus driver who was found near PRTC headquarters Monday morning. Another man, William E. Anderson Jr., 34, was found fatally shot nearby.

No one has been charged in Anderson's death, although police are investigating the possibility that the three men were engaged in a shootout near the headquarters, the main transfer point for passengers in eastern Prince William County.

First Transit spokeswoman Glenda Lamont said the company is working to independently confirm the 1999 convictions in U.S. District Court in Washington. If Wade has such a background, he should never have been hired, she said.

"If we had the information on that conviction, then he would not be working for us," Lamont said.

"Obviously, this is really concerning to us, because the safety and security of our passengers and our other employees is our highest priority," she said.

Lamont said that at the time Wade was hired in 2004, criminal background checks were made only in the county and state where the applicant lived, and in other localities if addresses were known. About a year ago, First Transit began doing nationwide searches.

Lamont said the company's background checks are performed by an outside security and information firm, USIS.

USIS spokesman Michael John said a subsidiary of the firm, HireRight, conducts background checks for First Transit but declined to discuss search results, citing confidentiality.

PRTC Executive Director Alfred Harf said the commission's contract with First Transit bars the hiring of any applicant with a felony conviction or drug or alcohol conviction. There are also restrictions on certain misdemeanor and traffic offenses. Lamont said bus drivers undergo drug and alcohol testing.

PRTC, which also oversees OmniLink and OmniRide buses, is not the first bus provider in the region to allow a felon behind the wheel.