|
|
| Only bashed fare box w/ my cane, says Maria Diaz, nabbed in attack on B65 B/O (263823) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > BusChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
Only bashed fare box w/ my cane, says Maria Diaz, nabbed in attack on B65 B/O |
|
|
Posted by Gold_12TH on Mon Jul 16 21:26:02 2012, in response to B/O assaulted on b65 sunday., posted by mci guy on Mon Jul 16 16:27:58 2012.  Maria Diaz, 51, is accused of attacking driver on B65 after attempting to pay half fare for the disabled but providing no proof she was entitled to the discount. THE TROUBLED 51-year-old Brooklyn woman who police said went bonkers on a city bus and attacked the driver with her cane insists she never clocked him — but admits to striking the fare box in her rage. “I swear to God, I did not touch him!” a teary-eyed and distraught Maria Diaz said after she was arraigned Sunday for felony assault and menacing in Kings County Criminal Court. “I only hit the meter with my cane,” she added, conceding she erupted in anger after driver William Fleming denied her bid to pay a reduced disability fare of $1.25 because she didn’t have proper ID. But the driver and three passengers on the B65 bus tell a different tale, insisting Diaz brandished the cane and then uncorked her fury by landing a blow to Fleming’s right arm that resulted in bruising, but not serious injury. In addition to striking the bus driver, Diaz was also “verbally aggressive” and “yelled profanity” at him, according to the criminal complaint. Fleming received no medical treatment. The suspect has a criminal record, a Brooklyn assistant district attorney revealed in requesting bail be set at $25,000, though no details of any past arrests were disclosed. But Acting Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Neil Jon Firetog released Diaz with no bail, on her own recognizance, pending a trial set for Sept. 20. Diaz, dressed in a low-cut pink dress with pink sandals, acknowledges her problems, saying she takes the bus to Interfaith Medical Center for methadone treatment and lives in a home for people with mental disorders. The incident comes as MTA chief Joseph Lhota has been pressing prosecutors and judges to throw the book at loose-cannon riders who assault and injure transit workers, an offense the state Legislature made a Class D felony in 2002. The confrontation took place at 10 a.m. on Saturday on Bergen St. in Prospect Heights when Diaz, who says she has arthritis in both knees and needs knee replacement, tried to board the bus by paying the disabled half-fare rate. Handicapped riders are eligible for half-price MetroCards, but they must first present a Metropolitan Transportation Authority-issued ID card, which Diaz says she is still waiting to receive. Fleming balked, noting she had no proof or ID, and said, “Miss, why don’t you pay your full fare?” according to her account. At that point, she says, irate passengers started yelling at her, the driver refused to move until she either paid up or left the bus, and Diaz demanded her coins back or a free transfer. The standoff continued, tension built, and Diaz says she snapped at the other passengers to mind their own business, saying, “I am disabled, that’s why I’m only putting in $1.25.” That’s when she wielded the gray cane. “He just don’t like me,” she said of Fleming. But she repeated to the Daily News, “I didn’t touch him, I never touched him.” Bahar Ansari, Diaz’ Legal Aid attorney, said she will seek any surveillance tapes that may have been filmed and recorded on the bus, saying they’ll prove her client never physically struck the driver. Attempt to reach Fleming were unsuccessful. A woman at his home in Canarsie, Brooklyn, relayed a message from him saying that he was unable to answer questions because of regulations from the Transport Workers Union, which represents city bus drivers. ---- http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/bashed-fare-box-cane-maria-diaz-nabbed-attack-brooklyn-bus-driver-article-1.1115059#ixzz20q42ntbN |
|
|
|