Students disputed the police version of Tuesday?s brutal assault of a 26-year-old woman on a Baltimore City bus and claimed the “victim” started the fight and used the “N” word.
Robert Poole Middle School students who were on the No. 27 bus around 3 p.m. Tuesday say Sarah Kreager and her boyfriend provoked nine students in an attack that left her with broken bones in the left eye socket and other head injuries.
Riding home from school Thursday, Kevin Johnson, 14, said the adults started the fight.
“We all ride the bus together and nothing happens,” he told The Examiner.
Another student, a 13-year-old girl who would not give her name, said she heard Kreager use the”N” word, instigating the fight.
“She punched my friend, and my friend fell back in her seat,” the girl said.
The students? stories contradict the version provided by Kreager and her boyfriend to Maryland Transit Administration police. Kreager and her boyfriend said the middle schoolers refused to let the couple sit down ? and then attacked them, police said.
After twice being denied an open seat by the middle schoolers ? all ages 14 and 15 ? Kreager was “immediately attacked,” police said. The six boys and three girls punched and kicked her at 2:59 p.m. at the intersection of 33rd Street and Chestnut Avenue, according to police.
Kreager was dragged off the bus, and her boyfriend, Troy Ennis, attempted to get her back on, police said.
“She had eye muscles that were damaged,” a police report states. “She had deep lacerations on the top of her head and another above her neck.”
Two seats and the bus?s rear glass were destroyed during the attack, police said.
The bus driver quickly called police, who responded and arrested the nine juveniles. They were charged with aggravated assault, said Jawauna Greene, an MTA police spokeswoman.
Security was tight Thursday on the special No. 27 bus that normally picks up students on school grounds, as two armed MTA police officers rode with a dozen or so students. Officers riding the bus said it is generally filled, which may have factored into the dispute over seats.
Riders of the No. 27 bus said students could be rowdy.
“When they come into the store, they don?t listen,” said Pat Thompson, 58, who worked at the 7-Eleven down the street. “I try to get on the bus before they do.”
Kreager could not be reached for comment. Court records show Kreager is awaiting trial on drug-related charges.
Schools officials declined to comment on punishment for thestudents, citing the conflicting accounts.
“School officials have to interview the students who were arrested before deciding whether to punish them,” said Vanessa Pyatt, a Baltimore City schools spokeswoman.
“We have not made a determination yet because we are getting conflicting reports,” she added.
