PRT bus driver charged with aggravated assault, accused of dragging passenger in Sharpsburg
A PRT bus driver is accused of dragging a woman while driving, nearly running her over.
55-year-old Jesse White, a PRT bus driver, is charged with aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Police say this incident happened on main street here in Sharpsburg mid-morning Monday.
The commotion caught Middle Carr's attention.
"I heard some people yelling and screaming outside" Carr, who was working at an art gallery nearby said, "I saw a bus coming by and it looked like people were chasing the bus."
Police said White was driving that bus. He and a passenger were arguing over where she was going to be dropped off.
"I was just hoping nobody was hurt," Carr said.
The criminal complaint said White let the woman off at one point, but her bag got stuck in the door.
Police said the woman tried to pull her bag out, but White kept driving and she then tried to get her bike off the front of the bus.
The complaint said White then started driving with the woman in front of that bus, dragging her along.
"Whenever you're dragging someone and putting a lot more lives in danger it's never a good thing," Roman Mason, a Sharpsburg Borough Councilperson, said.
A witness told police he was hitting the bus. He said another car honked at the bus to stop.
The witness said that when the bus did stop, the woman fell off and rolled.
"I know everybody has bad days, but we need to not take it out on each other," Carr said.
White told police he thought the woman had a gun. The criminal complaint said he started swerving to try to get her off balance.
That woman is also facing charges. Police said she threatened White with a water bottle before heading off the bus.
"He thought he did what was right at the time, and looking back, we could always say he could've handled it differently," Mason said.
A PRT spokesperson tells KDKA-TV that White is currently off the job with pay pending further investigation.