Former Mount Mercy teacher sentenced to probation for drunk driving from after-school club

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A former Mount Mercy Academy teacher and school bus driver was sentenced to three years of probation on Monday for driving a group of high school students back from an after-school club while drunk in February 2024, the Cattaraugus County District Attorney’s Office said.

On Feb. 1, 2024, Natalie Alvut, who was 35 at the time, was driving students back to Mount Mercy from Holiday Valley when the students noticed she was driving in the wrong direction to Franklinville instead of South Buffalo.

The students convinced Alvut to pull over at Ischua Valley Country Club, where they told a waitress that she was swerving on the road and “driving erratically.” At the time, police said Alvut blew a .2 on a breathalyzer test.

No students were injured and Mount Mercy terminated Alvut after the incident.

Alvut was initially charged with 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and aggravated driving while intoxicated as a felony and misdemeanor. The district attorney’s office said she had already paid restitution.