One of nine teens charged in the high-profile beating of a woman on a BaltimoreCity bus is filing assault charges against the alleged victim, arguing the woman threw the first punches.
In a written statement, Nakita McDaniels, 15, said the supposed victim, Sarah Kreager, 26, spit on her and punched her seven times while Kreager?s boyfriend, Troy Ennis, 30, yelled racial slurs and threatened to stab the students.
“I saw spit fly across the left side of my face,” McDaniels wrote in a second-degree assault charging document against Kreager she filed Friday in Baltimore City District Court. “Kreager punched me in the mouth with a closed fist. I fell back without hitting the floor. I was caught by the other students on the bus. After they catch me, I stand up and Kreager punches me about six more times to the head. I was scared so I started to hit her back to defend myself.”
The Examiner first reported similar allegations by teens on the No. 27 bus who said Kreager and Ennis initiated the altercation and used racial slurs.
The claims are at odds with Kreager?s version of events. She told police she was simply trying to find a seat on the bus Dec. 4 ? and was repeatedly denied by the nine students, who then attacked her without warning. Those students are charged as juveniles with assault.
“My client gave her statement to the detectives on the day this happened and it wasn?t investigated,” said McDaniels? attorney, Kimberly Thomas. “The State?s Attorney?s Office should investigate this case the proper way.”
McDaniels said Kreager?s badly bruised eye was already bruised when she got on the bus, and her boyfriend called the students “n——” several times.
“Troy once again entered the bus through the front door holding a sharp utensil in his hand stating, ?I will stab one of you n——,? ” she wrote.
After the fight calmed down, McDaniels said Kreager tried to start it back up again.
“Kreager came from behind meand started pushing me saying, ?See me one-on-one? three times,” McDaniels wrote.
The attorneys for two other teens charged in the attack made similar claims two weeks ago, when they said their clients were the victims of an attack started by Kreager.
Joseph Sviatko, a spokesman for Baltimore City State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy, declined to comment.
