About 90 Michigan State students stranded after police impound party buses

About 90 Michigan State students were stranded this past weekend after a night of hot dogs and bonfires at Andy T's Farm just south of St. Johns. 

The Clinton County Sheriff's Department impounded two buses operated by Lansingparty.com on Saturday for not having insurance or completing an annual inspection, police said. 

“For the safety of the kids we couldn’t allow them back on the buses," Clinton County Lt. Jeff Clarke said. 

Lansingparty.com has received citations for not having proper insurance and failing to receive an annual inspection in the past and has been successful in having those charges dropped in "multiple jurisdictions" including Jackson, Lansing and Detroit, according to a statement from the company.

"The October 14 impound in Clinton County is the latest attempt by law enforcement to harass LansingParty.com, LLC, its owners, and its customers," the statement read. "As with the other cases, there is no basis in Michigan law for the charges and the company is confident that it will be vindicated in court if the Clinton County Prosecutor decides to pursue the case. LansingParty.com, LLC has retained counsel and will vigorously defend itself against these charges as well as procure damages arising from this incident."

Two Michigan State student groups rented the buses, Andy T's owner Sunday Todosciuk-Priestly said. She said she had the groups' leaders file police reports so they could potentially get their money back from the bus company. She also helped coordinate taxis to get them home. 

“All they know is they don't have rides home, and that’s scary," she said. “It was just a horrible experience for those kids and us too." 

The students were at the farm an extra hour after they were scheduled to leave. Todosciuk-Priestly used her own Jeep to haul the last six students back to East Lansing at 1 a.m. Sunday.

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Todosciuk-Priestly said she has called other groups scheduled to visit the farm to make sure they weren't planning to use the same bus company.

A sheriff's deputy spotted the buses as they were pulling into the farm that evening, Clarke said. 

“We have dealt with that business before. And MDOT has had issues with them as well," Clarke said. 

MDOT has had "little contact, but many issues" with the company, agency spokesman Jeff Cranson said Tuesday in an email. 

"They are operating illegally and we have worked with law enforcement to assist them in their enforcement efforts," he wrote. "MDOT also communicated to (Lansingparty.com) in 2017 what is required for the carrier to operate legally."

The incident is still under investigation, Clarke said. The department said in a news release it is working with MDOT before sending the investigation to prosecutors.

Contact reporter Haley Hansen at (517) 267-1344 or hhansen@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @halehansen.