Posted on 02/26/2008 2:19:42 PM PST by freedomwarrior998
Surveillance footage from a Gilbert school bus shows the driver and a 15-year-old student physically confronting one another on February 15th.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc15.com ...
I am with you. this punk needs to be knocked down several notches.
When the girl continued to the front and boldly told the the driver that she was getting off -- that was, imo, close to assault -- it was a threat of assualt. Possibly criminal.
When the girl then approached the driver and continued her insubordinate, loud, verbally abusive demand to be let off the bus that was assault and endangerment. Endangerment because the brat had by then put the safety of everyone else on the bus at risk and showed every sign of escalating both her misbehavior, the conflict with the authority, and the endangerment of the bus, and even perhaps incitement to riot. All criminal, all demanding immediate action by the driver.
When the driver pushed the girl back towards her seat, that was the PROPER and DUE action at the time. For the driver NOT to have done so was, perhaps, negligence or dereliction of duty on her part.
Here is another report:
Sullivan has her supporters.The police made a bad judgment call when they charged the driver and issued a statement saying all parties acted wrongfully. A damn bad judgment, too."In the business we call it a conflict spiral. It's a situation where things were bad, got terribly worse," said Huntington Coach Corp. senior manager Paul Mori.
Mori, a school bus driver instructor, said it looked like Sullivan acted reasonably.
"Calm down. Just calm down," Sullivan said on the tape.
"I believe the driver was trying de-escalate the situation with the student," Mori said. "It sounds like she tried to keep a pretty level tone about herself in the situation. She didn't lose it."
The Higley Unified School District also backs its 54-year-old bus driver and sent letters to parents Wednesday saying it is conducting its own investigation.
"The district is standing by their bus driver, by their employee. The driver was following the training she received and Arizona law. It's a situation where the student was not following the direction of the bus driver," the district said in a statement.
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=4344477&page=2
I hope the locals follow up on as to why the police -- specifically Gilbert Police Department Sgt. Mark Marino. who made that premature and ill-considered statement. Is there some conflict of interest with a family, or a background police dispute with the school authorities? It was a very unwise charge to lay against the driver and her daughter and an extremely unwise public statement to issue.
As in "Sit down, you're rocking the boat!" (a lyric from Guys and Dolls). Same principle in law too -- a person on a boat who stands and rocks it back in forth endangers every other person on the boat. A captain on the boat -- or indeed any other boat rider -- is fully justified in using whatever force necessary including such force as would cause severe injury, in order to prevent the person from endangering all.
Perhaps you were not aware of that support from the proper and responsible authorities for the driver -- for you did not mention it in your post.
That sums it up quite nicely.
Your video..same situation..foul mouth, disrespectful children but this bus driver was not in control. I had no problem with him making one sit down but the others rioted and he even let one get behind him. This lady stayed in her territory, kept the other kids calm and blocked the door. I feel for both of them though. Do we need cages? This is ridiculous.
She needs to be expelled. I doubt that attitude is just saved for the bus driver. Let her finish up at home with momma or alternative classes.
Hiya neighbor! (Waving from Gilbert)
The police department and the district attorney's office see things a bit differently though BASED upon interviews with kids who were on the bus and parents who were outside of the bus and who had a clearer view of the situation.
I am NOT saying this girl deserves aa pass or that she did nothing wrong. I am saying I believe this driver handled this situation improperly from the get go.
As far as this driver de-escalating the situation...The driver is the one who pulled the bus over, got out of her seat and confronted the girl who was doing nothing but talking on her cell phone according to student reports and what is visible on the video. If the driver was concerned over the girl's talking, that would have been more of a school administrator's discipline issue for the next school morning. A write up would have sufficed.
The driver initially reported the girl gave a false name, and that was why she pulled the bus over yet the driver called her by name indicating she knew this student. I don't buy the false name stuff. The whole issue is over the girl's talking which was no louder or no more disruptive than any others as she could not be heard over the other children who were also talking loudly.
The driver then goes on to initiate confrontation by asking the girl why she was even on the bus and suggesting she find another way to and from school. Again, an administrator could have handled this according to the school's transportation policy.
The driver, whose bus and its passengers were in NO harm prior to this incident, endangered those kids moreso than this girl by pulling over to begin with. Obviously she did so unsafely as one of the kids on the bus can be heard warning her "there are a lot of cars behind you." Unless there were emergency circumstances demanding an immediate stop, the driver should have pulled over into an area where traffic was not an issue, particularly since those kids exited the bus via an emergency door onto the roadway.
Yes, the girl should have sat down and shut up. Yes, she was obnoxious and whiny. Yes, she was even vulgar. But, she was NOT physical. The driver originally instigated and even further antagonized the situation further by slapping the cell phone out of the girl's hand. That, according to Sgt. Marrino, is where the situation began to get out of control physically and where the driver crossed the line into the area of assault. I believe the police officers have a better vantage point from which to conclude their investigation and to suggest the driver be charged with assault as well. They have witnesses who saw things first hand; things we could not see on the tape. The PD and DA's office would know whether or not criminal charges were warranted, and against whom, better than you or I.
The driver could have handled this situation in an entirely different and safer manner than she did. At no time prior to the confrontation did the student appear to be posing a threat to or endangering the driver or the other students. The tape was rolling long before this incident and had there been evidence to indicate otherwise, it would have been shown by now.
One of the things I think they need are shoulder radios. Drivers are having to turn their backs and go back to the front of the bus to call for hekp.
Zero tolerance is nonsense, respect is what they need to hammer.
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Agreed. The bus driver showed very poor judgment. Although I sympathize with those doing this nearly thankless job, pulling over and confronting the student was the wrong choice.
Hello! Glad to see a neighbor here...You enjoying this nice weather for a change? WEEDS everywhere!
Zero tolerance gets taken to the extreme all too often....Yes, respect is needed and is reinforced on the campuses here. Of course the first place it needs to be taught is at home, so it’s not foreign to them when they get to school.
Agreed.
Ideally one would pray -- and I meant pray -- that was the case.
Yet there is clearly can be problems with PD and DA's -- especially in cases where there are associations and connections with the culprits. These can be personal or professional, family, friends, or from involvement with prior cases.
The Duke Lacrosse Team Prosecution is a recent infamous case. There the prosecutor knew the family of the one girl from their contribution as witnesses/victims is prior crimes he had prosecuted. There also was surely, I suspect, general class-warfare political vendettas going on -- within the PD and DAs office.
Another case -- which should be more famous is a forcible date-rape/porno-filming gang rape incident in Mercer County NJ which occurred a few months ago. The alleged preps are State Troopers.
All local prosecutors -- city and county appear to be afraid to take the case. AFAIK it still has not been charged. the US Attorney in NJ has offered to take the case -- but it is a state crime, not a federal one. Sad.
Trust but verify. A good citizentry is a vigilant citizentry.
More info ... we hear from the Brat’s mother!
A mother releases her rage about a bus brawl that was all caught on tape.
A ride home for an Arizona high school student ended in a brawl between a girl and her bus driver on Feb. 15.
The bus driver said she was trying to keep a Williams Field High School student from getting off the bus where she wasn’t supposed to.
Their uncontrollable yelling quickly turned into a physical fight.
The mother said the bus driver started it all.
“I was shocked at the extreme violence of the bus driver. That she put her hands on my daughter that much,” the mom said.
Apparently, the bus driver radioed for help early on during the incident. However, the Higley Unified School District transportation office was struggling to figure out was happening.
Parents standing outside the bus saw the commotion but couldn’t put a stop to it because the bus driver would not open the door.
Some students jumped off the bus through one of the emergency exits.
The district suspended the rowdy teenager for 10 days and may kick her out of school.
Police want both of them charged with assault.
The mom said the bus driver is an adult and should have been more mature and prevented this from happening.
“I guess I’ll pick her up because there’s no way I’m putting her on another bus,” she said.
Well that explains a lot of this doesn’t it? I don’t think mom has much to worry about. I doubt if any driver will now let her on the bus after this.
Extreme violence, oh yeah. Crazy world.
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