Metro bus driver takes bite out of McGruff the Crime Dog
By: Scott McCabe
Examiner Staff Writer
March 2, 2009
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| McGruff the Crime Dog shakes hands with kids at the Metropolitan Police Department's Day Camp at Cook Elementary School in Washington, DC, on Friday, June 29, 2007. Brendan Hoffman/for the Examiner (Examiner) |
McGruff never saw this one coming.
McGruff the Crime Dog, the stern but beloved police mascot who teaches kids how to stop crime before it happens, became a victim himself this weekend when a Metro bus driver punched him in the face as a stunned group of children watched, authorities said.
McGruff, a.k.a. D.C. police officer Tyrone Hardy, was passing out flyers to children at the corner of
14th Street and Spring Road in Northwest Washington around 2:30 p.m. Saturday when a Metro bus pulled up to the curb.
The bus driver, 38-year-old Shawn Brim, climbed out of the bus, adjusted both sideview mirrors and then slugged McGruff in the face with his closed fist, according to a police report. Because the huge McGruff head offered little visibility, Hardy didn’t see the punch coming, one officer said.
McGruff staggered, children screamed and the crime dog’s attacker jumped back into the bus and drove off, police said. A call of an assault on a police officer went out over the police radio while passengers on the bus yelled at Brim.
D.C. police working with McGruff hopped in their cruisers and pulled the Metro bus over three blocks away.
Brim, 38, later told a supervisor that he was trying “to be funny,” Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith told The Examiner on Monday.
“But nobody here finds it funny, believe me,” Smith said. “That kind of behavior is not tolerated.”
Hardy was left with a swollen right cheek but refused to be taken to the hospital by D.C. paramedics. Hardy called in sick Monday.
“He was in good spirits,” but seemed more concerned that the attack “upset the kids,” said Lt. Alan Thomas.
Brim was charged with simple assault. His arraignment date has not been scheduled as of Monday afternoon.
Brim, who has been employed by Metro since 2003, will undergo drug and alcohol testing by Metro officials, and his future with the agency is under review, Smith said.
Brim has a history of arrests in the District of Columbia, including for prostitution in Oct. 30, 2006, possession of PCP in 1994 and possession of a gun in 1990, according to court records. In each case, prosecutors declined to file the charges in court.
All Metro Transit employees go through background checks when hired, Smith said. The agency will not hire candidates with felonies unless the conviction occurred more than 10 years before.
smccabe@dcexaminer.com
