Safety Concerns After DART Attack
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Stephen Miller takes DART rail everyday to get to work.
Thus he wasn't happy to hear about the stabbing early Tuesday morning stabbing at the Pearl Street station.
Miller says, "It's a very big concern of mine because I've caught the first train at 4:45 a.m."
DART police say a man got off the train before 5:30 Tuesday morning, then stabbed a woman who also left the train, in the face and neck.
Paramedics rushed her to Baylor Medical Center. The hospital isn't releasing information about the woman's condition. DART doesn't know if it's random or if the suspect and victim know each other. A security camera at the station recorded the incident.
DART spokesman Mark Ball says, "DART is one of the safest mass transit systems in America in contrast to other transit systems in the country. Our crime rate is very low."
The agency's records show in 2012, there were 25 aggravated assaults system-wide, which include stabbings. In 2013, there were 29, and between January 1st and August 31st last year, there were 16. As for violent crimes, including murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, there were 112 in 2012, 156 in 2013, and 76 between January 1 and August 31, 2014.
Most of the crimes in the DART system are larceny-thefts. All 62 of DART's rail stations have multiple cameras. None of DART's trains have cameras, but plans are underway to install them when the agency buy new trains.
For now, DART has no plans to boost security on the rails. But after a deadly shooting at its Arapaho Center station in Richardson nearly two years ago, the agency stationed a uniformed police officer on every train for one year.
Miller says he likes that idea. "I would like to see more."
As a result of the stabbing, DART shut down the Pearl Street station so officers could conduct their investigation. They also closed three other rail stations downtown since there's only one set of tracks in downtown.
DART quickly scrambled to get shuttle buses to pick-up passengers at the affected rail stations and drop them off at the next available stations. Some riders say that caused some confusion.
Donald Hunt was trying to get to his job in North Carrollton said, "They told us to get off at Deep Ellum, they put us on a shuttle bus, the driver told us we could get off at Pearl and take any train we wanted to, and there's no trains running. No one seems to know what to do to get to North Carrollton."
Mark Ball says, "The concern is getting the shuttle bus in place because it's not something typically ready to go. We have to call the bus operators, find available buses, but oce the buses are in place, the system works pretty good."
Steve Laube, another rail passenger who had to take a shuttle bus took the situation in stride. "It's a pain, but it's still less painful than fighting traffic on Central Expressway."
Follow Jack on Twitter: @cbs11jack
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