A 70-year-old school bus attendant in the US faces five years in jail after biting and hitting a teenage bus passenger accused of taunting her. Hattie Yvonne Branch was filmed by a camera mounted at the rear at the rear of the bus as she bit, hit and pulled the hair of a 14-year-old student from Lakeland Senior High School in central Florida. The video shows Branch, whose arrest report lists her as being 140cm tall, confront the much taller boy at the back of the parked bus on June 2.
She reportedly lost her temper after the student playfully flipped one of his classmates over a chair and his legs hit her. "You did it on purpose," Branch says in the surveillance footage. At one point the teen stands up to Branch, swearing at her, which only seems to provoke a second attack.
YouTube link.
As the scuffle continues back and forth across the aisle, a younger child can be heard screaming in fright while another female student comforts him. When police asked Branch why she hit the boy she told them: "I was told by my supervisor that I could use the force necessary to protect myself when attacked," her arrest report reportedly reads. The teen attacked by Branch reportedly told police he had threatened and swore at her in the past but did not provoke her on the day of the incident.
The police report notes the teen had two separate bite marks on his back. Branch has been charged with child abuse and could spend up to five year in jail if convicted. She resigned from her job with the school district on June 30. Branch is scheduled to appear before a pre-trial conference later this month.
2 comments:
140cm tall is about 4' 7"?
I can imagine working on a school bus would be similar to the 7th level of hell but biting and punching and biting a 14 year old is wrong.
Kick him off the bus and make him walk...
I might add that 5 years in jail is wrong as well. I'd say her resignation should be enough.
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