The woman who videotaped a driver shoving a rider from a Metrobus spoke to the agency about the incident.
According to Metro, the woman said the ejected man had been intoxicated with either drugs or alcohol, and had twice fallen over onto other riders, one of them a two-year-old child.
Metro says they've identified both the bus and the driver involved in the incident, which took place on August 31, at 8:30 in the evening. The incident, according to Metro, occurred aboard the U-5 bus heading to Lincoln Heights.
The transportation agency said the man who was ejected in the video got on board in the vicinity of Minnesota Avenue, Northeast.
News4 obtained a portion of Metro's report on the incident, made after they interviewed the witness who videotaped the incident. From the woman's statement:
While boarding the bus, the patron stumbled and fell onto a female patron that was seated and also fell on top of that patron’s 2-year-old child. The female patron became angry and pushed him off of the child at which point he fell to the floor of the bus. He was then assisted to a seat by a patron exiting the bus. While seated, he became involved in a verbal altercation with several other patrons. The patron stood up next to the bus operator and began to threaten him unprovoked.
Metro says in the report that according to the witness, the driver initially ignored the rider's antagonism, but then eventually pulled the bus over and asked him to get off. What happens next is captured on video - the driver picking up the man with both hands and shoving him out the door of the bus.
Metro spokesperson Dan Stessel said the driver's actions are currently under review. Stessel said proper protocol for incidents involving disorderly passengers is for the driver to contact Metro Police. The incident depicted in the video clearly violates that protocol.
The driver's past record and mitigating circumstances will be considered before a final judgment is made on his future with the transportation agency. Stessel said he could not say whether any disciplinary action had yet been taken. Judgment will likely be made within the next two weeks.
