St. Louis-area cyclist attacked 3rd time by students in school bus
St. Louis-area cyclist Bill Howells has been assaulted for the third time by students riding a Laidlaw school bus.
The first incident, on February 11th, 2003, Howells was struck by by a student leaning out the window holding a broomstick. The broomstick left a large welt on Howells' back.
The second incident, on March 13th, a student hung out the window and attempted to strike Howells with an orange stick. Howells managed to evade the blow and escape injury.
In the third incident, May 20th, Howells was struck in the neck by an object thrown from the bus.
The bus number and bus driver in the March 13th and May 20th incidents were the same.
Howells has repeatedly contacted Laidlaw Education Services, which operate the school buses. After the first incident, Laidlaw said that it was impossible to pinpoint the school bus, driver, or students involved, based only on Howells description of the bus and the time and location of the incident. After the second incident, they indicated that their policy is to "write up" the student, informing the school district, and that their responsibility ends there.
In the second incident, Laidlaw indicated that the bus driver knew the identity of the perpetrator. The school bus driver indicated that he would indeed write up the student, allowing the school principal to take action, but it is unclear if the student was written up or if the principal took action. In the third incident, the driver was uncertain which student threw the object.
The police have taken reports from Howells and have assigned a detective to the case. The detective has contacted Laidlaw and suggested that they remove any objects from their buses that could be used as weapons.
It should be noted that all three incidents were observed by a large number of witnesses (other students on the bus with the perpetrators and in one of the three cases, the bus driver) and that each incident is clearly a case of 2nd-degree assault, a class C felony under Missouri law.
The first incident, on February 11th, 2003, Howells was struck by by a student leaning out the window holding a broomstick. The broomstick left a large welt on Howells' back.
The second incident, on March 13th, a student hung out the window and attempted to strike Howells with an orange stick. Howells managed to evade the blow and escape injury.
In the third incident, May 20th, Howells was struck in the neck by an object thrown from the bus.
The bus number and bus driver in the March 13th and May 20th incidents were the same.
Howells has repeatedly contacted Laidlaw Education Services, which operate the school buses. After the first incident, Laidlaw said that it was impossible to pinpoint the school bus, driver, or students involved, based only on Howells description of the bus and the time and location of the incident. After the second incident, they indicated that their policy is to "write up" the student, informing the school district, and that their responsibility ends there.
In the second incident, Laidlaw indicated that the bus driver knew the identity of the perpetrator. The school bus driver indicated that he would indeed write up the student, allowing the school principal to take action, but it is unclear if the student was written up or if the principal took action. In the third incident, the driver was uncertain which student threw the object.
The police have taken reports from Howells and have assigned a detective to the case. The detective has contacted Laidlaw and suggested that they remove any objects from their buses that could be used as weapons.
It should be noted that all three incidents were observed by a large number of witnesses (other students on the bus with the perpetrators and in one of the three cases, the bus driver) and that each incident is clearly a case of 2nd-degree assault, a class C felony under Missouri law.
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