MILWAUKEE — A bus driver unaffiliated with the team but hired to drive the Pirates from Chicago to Milwaukee late Thursday was charged with driving under the influence, Illinois law enforcement officials said.
Around 11:30 p.m. after a game at Wrigley Field, state troopers pulled over the team bus on the right shoulder of I-94 northbound at Dempster Street — about 25 minutes from the ballpark — following reports of erratic driving.
Illinois state police said Ronald Funderburke, 61 of Shelby, N.C., was not following the designed escort, and they initially thought he might've experienced a medical emergency.
But after pulling the bus over and observing multiple signs of impairment, Funderburke was arrested and transported to the Chicago Police Department 16th District.
Nobody was hurt, and the report did not specify for which company Funderburke worked. He also has no affiliation with the Pirates, although senior vice president of communications and broadcasting Brian Warecki said the team is in the process of learning more.
"We are deeply concerned regarding what transpired [Thursday] night," Warecki said in a statement provided to multiple outlets. "The important thing is that all of our personnel arrived in Milwaukee safely.
"Buses are contracted out to a local provider, which was consistent with this trip, and we are now in communication with the appropriate parties regarding this matter."
