Bus Company: Employee Who Roughed Up Kid Was Wrong
GALESBURG (WWJ/AP) - A woman riding a school bus in southwestern Michigan to control rowdy behavior was "totally wrong" to sit next to an unruly boy and slam him against a window inside the vehicle, her boss said Friday.
The employee, Heidi Mullin, was fired after the incident Wednesday in the Galesburg-Augusta school district, said Ed Dollin, president of Auxilio Services, a company hired to handle student transportation.
A video taken by a student and posted online shows the 7-year-old being slammed into the side of the bus by Mullin.
"There are plenty of safety nets in place. This should have never occurred," Dollin told The Associated Press. "We take responsibility."
He said Mullin is "extremely remorseful." Her phone number is not listed and she could not be reached for comment.
Dollin said Mullin was the fourth employee to ride the bus since reports of bad behavior by students in late September. He said the incident was preceded by the boy screaming, throwing his book bag, sticking his head out of the window and threatening the driver.
He said Mullin decided to sit next to the boy to try to defuse the situation and was grabbed around the neck. That's when she "panicked" and slammed him against the interior wall of the bus.
"By sitting in the seat with him, it was like putting gasoline on a fire. It was totally wrong," Dollin said.
He said the driver should have pulled over before the incident or the student should have been removed at an earlier stop. Dollin said Mullin has her own video of what happened before she struck the child.
A 5-second video, apparently shot by someone on the bus and posted on the social networking website Facebook, shows a boy being lifted from a seat and slammed into a window with a loud bang. The woman yells "Sit down!" In the background, another student says, "Holy crap."
It wasn't clear if the child was injured. The boy was back in school Thursday, Galesburg police Sgt. Jeff Heppler said.
The video has since been removed from Facebook and YouTube.
Police are investigating the incident as well as a claim by Mullin that the boy threatened her, Heppler said.
Dollin said the Cincinnati-based company started working in Galesburg-Augusta, 50 miles southeast of Grand Rapids, on Aug. 1.
"Our goal is to rebuild the trust of the community," said Dollin.
TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
