Dont take this bus

KRQE reports:

ALBUQUERQUE -- A city bus driver was supposed to drive a disabled woman home, but police say before he dropped her off, he raped her.
Joseph Luceras is a city employee who drives a mini-bus tasked with transporting the disabled to their appointments and to work.

The 24-year-old woman told police she was on her way home from work on Thursday, riding the bus with her two friends.

According to the criminal complaint, when the woman was alone on the bus, Luceras started asking her sexual questions.

Luceras then stopped the bus on a side road, and allegedly raped the woman in the back of the vehicle. The woman says Lucecras later dropped her off at her home where she was able to get help.

The 21-year-old Luceras was in court Friday, charged with sexual penetration and kidnapping.

The City’s transit department says they contacted police after a call was placed to their crime hotline.

“We take these allegations very, very seriously,” says ABQ Ride spokesman Jay Faught. “As soon as we learned of these allegations we immediately contacted APD. We brought the driver in and we also sequestered the vehicle the driver was driving.”

Albuquerque ride says it started conducting background checks on drivers back in October of 2004. Lueras was hired that month, but the city is still investigating if a background check was performed.

While background checks don't save you from first time offenders, there are a good indicator of future behavior. Trouble is, so many times employers simply do not follow a consistent background check policy or program. While you may feel you are saving and money and time by hiring candidates and putting them to work without a complete background check, you may eventually lose. Running a consistent Background checks program protects you from negligent hiring lawsuits, saving your business reputation and coffers.

Corra Group suggests conducting smart backgrond checks on all job candidates, as well as ongoing background check-ups when key employees are giving the opportunity for promotion and thereby will be entrusted with more company assets and responsibilities. Conducting a nationwide criminal database search in addition to a hand pulled county criminal records will give you a pretty comprehensive portrait of the candidates background.