Driver is a slug
Bus guy punched boy, 6, on way to school: suit
A 6-YEAR-OLD STUDENT at an Upper West Side private school was put in a headlock and punched by a school bus driver who was transporting kids with a suspended license, according to a lawsuit to be filed Wednesday.
Natasha Keizer, 26, said her son, Amari, was en route to The Ideal School on March 3 on a bus driven by Michael Bradley, who is employed by Friendly Bus Services.Bradley, 52, allegedly called Amari to the front of the bus, put him in a headlock and punched him in the face — bloodying the boy’s nose, according to a criminal complaint.
The driver, who was operating with a suspended license, also pinched the little boy’s upper thigh and made him take off his shoes for the rest of the bus ride, Amari’s mother added.
Once he got to school, the bloodied boy told officials what had happened. However, no one told the mother until hours later, she said.
“My son walked into the school at 9 a.m. and told his teacher, ‘My bus driver punched me in the face and gave me a bloody nose,’ and then he was questioned until 1:30 p.m.,” said Keizer, who works as a correction officer at Rikers Island.
“I didn’t find out about what happened until 4 p.m. when another bus driver called and asked me what happened to my son. I called the school and the head of the school also told me the bus driver punched my son in the face.”
During the same bus ride, a 7-year-old child misplaced his cell phone and Bradley allegedly refused to give it back.
Bradley was arrested several days later. He was charged with assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. He was being held on $20,000 bond.
Keizer’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, said Bradley has 14 prior convictions, including one in 2015 for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
He had been previously convicted of a DUI and had his license suspended as a result.
Representatives of the bus company did not respond to requests for comment.
School officials said in a statement that the carrier is used “privately” by some of the parents.
“The Ideal School does not contract with this bus company, nor was any school employee involved,” the statement said.
Keizer said her son was so traumatized by the incident that he does not want to return to the school. She said she is trying to get him transferred.
“No parent wants to go through this, to find out hours later what happened,” Keizer said. “He’s supposed to be in a safe haven. Nothing like this is supposed to happen to a child.”