ATLANTA — A MARTA bus operator could face criminal charges after he was accused of slapping a man in front of his kids after a fender bender.
Sean Harris said he and his family were driving around Midtown Atlanta on Dec. 23 when a MARTA bus hit their SUV and kept on driving.
Harris told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden he tried to flag down the bus driver, but he kept going until he reached the Arts Center stop.
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Harris caught up with the driver at the MARTA station, but what happened next could result in criminal charges for the driver.
“He just started berating me with the words of profanity and yelling at me and calling me racial slurs,” said Sean Harris, who shared cell phone video with Channel 2 Action News that shows him asking to speak with a supervisor.
The video, which was posted on YouTube and runs about five minutes, also shows the bus driver slap Harris’ cellphone out of his hand, knocking it to the ground.
Seconds later, video shows the driver hit Harris in the head.
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“Again, I stay calm because my children and my wife were in the vehicle watching this all unfold,” he added.
On Friday, a spokesperson with MARTA sent Channel 2 Action News the following statement regarding the incident:
“On Saturday, Dec. 23, a bus and car were involved in a minor accident near Arts Center Station and both drivers got out of their vehicles and the incident escalated. The bus operator has been relieved of duty pending a disciplinary investigation. While Atlanta Police is handling the case as a traffic-related incident, MARTA Police’s Criminal Investigations Unit has also opened an investigation. MARTA does not condone this type of behavior from employees and requires operators to undergo recurring de-escalation training to defuse these types of situations.”
MARTA has not yet identified the driver.
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