YONKERS, N.Y. -- The owner of a Yonkers bus service faces felony charges for failing to provide workers compensation insurance coverage for 25 employees over a two-year period.

The charges were brought by the New York State Insurance Department and the New York State Workers Compensation Board.

Salvatore DiPaolo, 59, the owner of Service Transit Lines Inc., was arrested by state police in Hawthorne, which is about 16 miles north of Yonkers, and charged with violating the state workers compensation law.

His arrest came following a months-long investigation by the Insurance Departments Frauds Bureau and the Workers Compensation Boards Fraud Inspector General and Compliance Unit.

DiPaolo, who lives in Scarsdale, N.Y., also faces charges of harassment and obstructing governmental administration, resulting from an altercation on June 10 when Workers' Compensation Board investigators issued a stop-work order on DiPaolo for operating without insurance.

According to investigators, DiPaolo failed to provide workers compensation insurance for the 25 employees of his school and charter bus service between 2006 and 2008, thereby avoiding payment of an estimated $130,000 in premiums.

His clients included the Harrison School District, the town of Mamaroneck and various casinos.

If hes convicted, DiPaolo could be sentenced to up to four years in prison on the felony charge.

He was released pending a hearing to be scheduled in Westchester County (N.Y.) Court.

In 2004, DiPaolo was assessed a civil penalty of more than $80,000 for violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its regulations.

An administrative law judge found DiPaolo ignored the federal law and regulations that governing the operation of underground fuel storage tanks.