A Massachusetts school bus driver is on paid administrative leave after cell phone video shows a man being dragged by the vehicle.
The March 31 incident is reported to have occurred over what was considered the designated drop off area for parents to pick up their child.
James “Mikey” Burdett said he had asked the driver for his daughter – who was on the school bus at the time – but instead, the driver continued on his journey.
“When I tried to talk to him he wouldn’t open the door so I stood in front of the bus and put my hand out and said ‘just listen, I want my daughter, that’s it,’” Burdett told WBZ News.
Burdett said that’s when the driver “pressed on the gas,” so he grabbed onto the moving vehicle and held on for “dear life.”
Burdett said he could hear his daughter, Janalyz, screaming at the driver: “please stop… that’s my daddy.’”
According to a police report, the driver said Burdett had become violent and “started punching on the glass on the door.” Feeling the situation was unsafe for both him and the students onboard, the driver kept going.
The Boston Public Schools issued a statement about the event, reading in part: