Denver DA: No Charges In School Bus Fight
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver's district attorney will not charge anyone involved in a violent incident on a school bus last month. The charges against the parent, Brandi Martin, who was arrested will be dropped.
The fight broke out between a parent, a paraprofessional and a bus driver on Sept. 16. A parent recorded the chaos as children were screaming.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann says the situation was clearly emotional and escalated quickly and that is why criminal charges are not warranted.
McCann released this statement:
"After reviewing all of the video footage and other materials, it is clear that this incident escalated very quickly and was difficult and emotional for everyone involved. The bus driver and the bus monitor were confronted with a very challenging situation in which some students caused enough of a disturbance that for safety reasons, the driver pulled over to try and calm matters. At least one student alleged there was inappropriate touching, however, those claims are baseless and only contributed to the quickly unfolding events. When parents saw that the bus stopped before its scheduled drop off location, and heard kids screaming, they understandably became concerned and tensions further escalated.
Given all the circumstances, my office will not be filing any criminal charges arising out of this incident. The DPS employees were in a difficult situation and believed they were handling matters as best they could. Ms. Martin was concerned about her child and took action that she believed was appropriate. Criminal charges are not warranted although I hope that the parties are able to move forward and recognize the respective positions of those involved."
Brandi Martin's attorney released this statement:
We are pleased that the Denver District Attorney's Office has decided not to file any charges against our client, Brandi Martin. As the video footage clearly shows, Ms. Martin was simply trying to help her child get off the bus when she was confronted by the DPS employees on the school bus. Although the criminal charges have been dismissed, Ms. Martin is still dealing with the physical and emotional ramifications of this unfortunate and unnecessary incident. We look forward to hearing more from DPS about this incident and how to prevent any DPS children or parents from being placed in this situation again.
Denver Public Schools also released a statement which reads in part:
It is important to emphasize that there are necessary safety procedures in place for bus transportation that expressly prohibit non-district staff from entering a school bus. In addition, it is essential that adults lead by example for our students and that issues are resolved peacefully through dialogue and without physical altercation.
