Family Attacked In BART Takeover Robbery Takes Legal Action
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – A family who said they were recently attacked by a mob of teenagers on BART is taking legal action against the agency by filing a claim.
Rusty Stapp was with his wife and daughter were headed home to Dublin after a birthday dinner in the city when they pulled into the Coliseum station on April 22nd.
"As we pulled into the station -- there was a mob of juveniles beating on the train as we pulled into the station," Stapp recalled. "As soon as the doors opened, the mob came in and immediately started robbing and beating individuals. They beat me first. I had two on top punching me and I had a third individual on top, kicking me."
Stapp said the mob originally boarded a San Francisco bound train then for some reason hopped off and stormed his train.
The BART passenger said he has asked to see train video from that terrifying night.
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"The answer I was given was the police did not have the video. I also asked for the video on each side of my car, thinking that would shed some light. They said they didn't have that video either, nor did they have video on the conductor car," Stapp said.
Stapp's attorney, who is filing a claim for him and two other passengers who were beaten that night, are asking for more than $1 million in damages.
The claim said BART failed to ensure adequate security measures to prevent these attacks from occurring.
"We think it's critical that BART release these tapes immediately in order to enlist the public a assistance and identifying these perpetrators and apprehending them," attorney Paul Justi said.
BART officials said two juveniles have been arrested, and they said they are investigating a ring of others, but because they are juveniles, police cannot release any names or video to the public.
"When they walked on that train there wasn't a care in the world. They didn't hesitate to what they did, they didn't say a word to anybody- They immediately started beating and robbing " Stapp said.
BART has 45 days to respond to the claim. The transit agency did not respond to requests for comment as of Monday night.