School bus driver for Forest Meadow students speaks to Fox 4 KDFW.
Forest Meadow Junior High students attacked their bus driver in February leaving him injured and seeking help from a passerby, according to the driver. The 64-year-old man is asking officials to press criminal charges and may file a lawsuit.
In a story on Fox 4 News, George Diaz says the assault began with students tossing a Dr. Pepper bottle at him from the back of the bus. The bottle missed his head and didn’t crack the bus windshield, but it – and the attack that followed – were caught on video.
After someone on the bus of seventh- and eighth-graders hurled the bottle, Diaz says he pulled the bus over and called for help from his DCS (Dallas County Schools) dispatcher.
Next, students are seen approaching the driver.
One student and the driver exchanged shoves at first. Then the student punched the driver, and other students followed suit. Other kids craned their necks to watch the attack. The driver fell backward out the bus door.
Richardson ISD suspended three students after the attack, but when the driver went to DCS police, officials advised him that he’d be better off forgetting the idea of filing charges. The kids could file charges of their own against him, he was told.
Diaz has no plans to remain silent.
“The bus driver is the adult in charge,” said his attorney, Pete Schulte. “These are middle schoolers. They have to listen to the authority that’s on that bus, and when they don’t and they start throwing punches, that’s a crime.”
