LAUDERDALE LAKES (CBSMiami) – Broward Sheriff’s deputies want to identify a Santa-hat wearing, belligerent bus passenger who smashed the vehicle’s windshield with a rock.
According to investigators, two passengers picked up before noon on Friday, November 18th at NW 16th Street and 441 in Lauderhill, were yelling the word “bitch†on the bus over and over again.
When the driver asked them to stop, they refused and continued with their rude remarks.
The driver eventually stopped the bus and ordered them to exit in the 2600 block of NW 49th Avenue in Lauderdale Lakes. That’s when one of the passengers, wearing a Santa-type hat and a red Adidas sweat suit with white stripes, walked to the front of the bus and verbally confronted the driver.
Once off the bus, the Santa-hat wearing passenger picked up a rock and hurled it toward the bus. It hit the front passenger-side windshield which left a large crack in the window.
The bus driver, 51-year-old Ignacio Gonzalez, told CBS4′s Peter D’Oench that he has been a bus driver for five years and was shocked by the teenager’s behavior.
“In all my experience I have never seen anything like this before,†said Gonzalez. “The teenager with the santa-type cap started cussing and using all sorts of profanity. It was very upsetting. It was upsetting because we have children and their parents and their grandparents who use these buses.†“Then when he left the bus he picked up a rock and threw it at the windshield,†said Gonzalez. “I was in shock. I had asked him to stop swearing and he would not stop. He just kept on cussing. I stopped the bus and that’s when he came at me. Then he left and picked up the rock.â€
“I hope people will recognize him on this tape and call the Broward Sheriffs Office or Broward Crimestoppers,†said Gonzalez. “We need to get him and his friend off the street. Bus safety is our big concern here, the safety of our passengers.â€
The entire incident was captured on surveillance video. Watch it here.
The suspect is believed to be in his late teens. Gonzalez told police he believes both passengers are students.
The rock-throwing suspect was last seen heading northbound on foot on NW 49th Avenue.
According to investigators, two passengers picked up before noon on Friday, November 18th at NW 16th Street and 441 in Lauderhill, were yelling the word “bitch†on the bus over and over again.
When the driver asked them to stop, they refused and continued with their rude remarks.
The driver eventually stopped the bus and ordered them to exit in the 2600 block of NW 49th Avenue in Lauderdale Lakes. That’s when one of the passengers, wearing a Santa-type hat and a red Adidas sweat suit with white stripes, walked to the front of the bus and verbally confronted the driver.
Once off the bus, the Santa-hat wearing passenger picked up a rock and hurled it toward the bus. It hit the front passenger-side windshield which left a large crack in the window.
The bus driver, 51-year-old Ignacio Gonzalez, told CBS4′s Peter D’Oench that he has been a bus driver for five years and was shocked by the teenager’s behavior.
“In all my experience I have never seen anything like this before,†said Gonzalez. “The teenager with the santa-type cap started cussing and using all sorts of profanity. It was very upsetting. It was upsetting because we have children and their parents and their grandparents who use these buses.†“Then when he left the bus he picked up a rock and threw it at the windshield,†said Gonzalez. “I was in shock. I had asked him to stop swearing and he would not stop. He just kept on cussing. I stopped the bus and that’s when he came at me. Then he left and picked up the rock.â€
“I hope people will recognize him on this tape and call the Broward Sheriffs Office or Broward Crimestoppers,†said Gonzalez. “We need to get him and his friend off the street. Bus safety is our big concern here, the safety of our passengers.â€
The entire incident was captured on surveillance video. Watch it here.
The suspect is believed to be in his late teens. Gonzalez told police he believes both passengers are students.
The rock-throwing suspect was last seen heading northbound on foot on NW 49th Avenue.