Beating on a bus: Driver didn't see — or didn't act?

Seventeen-year-old Carmen Rollins had just finished her shift at a downtown Seattle movie theater when she boarded Metro Bus No. 7 with her boyfriend, Will Hendershott, 17, and a girlfriend. The independent, outgoing high-school student had taken the route home dozens of times before.

But when the articulated bus pulled up to the stop at Rainier Avenue-Alaska Street at 12:15 a.m. on May 22, 2005, the girl sensed something was wrong. Rollins looked out the window and saw a rowdy group of 25 to 30 teenagers and young adults waiting to board the bus. As they piled on, they shouted profanities and exchanged punches. It wasn't long before the youths turned their attention to Rollins and Hendershott, who say they were then brutally attacked.

The incident is now the subject of a lawsuit against King County by Rollins and Hendershott. The case highlights the thorny issue of just how much help a Metro bus driver is supposed to provide passengers who are being harassed or assaulted. Rollins and Hendershott claim the driver failed to follow established protocols that could have helped prevent the attack.

King County says the driver did not see what happened to Rollins and Hendershott after they got on his bus. While refusing to comment directly about the case, Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke said drivers are trained to be drivers and not police officers.

The jury trial got under way this week in King County Superior Court.

According to testimony, shortly after the rowdy group climbed aboard, one of the men moved next to Rollins and caressed her leg. Others, including one who said he had a gun, began calling the couple names. Just before the bus made its next stop at South Graham Street, Rollins said, the group "jumped" her and her boyfriend, threatening to rape her, and punched both of them in the face. When the bus stopped and the doors were opened, the group pulled the couple out through the rear door. The beatings continued just outside the bus until the couple's friend, who was not involved, called 911 from a cellphone.

Some of the assailants got back on the bus and others ran off, according to Rollins. No one was criminally charged in the assault.

"I was afraid," Rollins, now 20, sobbed as she retold her story Thursday in the courtroom. "I just remember thinking in my head, 'When is this going to stop?' "

The trial, which will continue next week, strikes at an issue that concerns many bus riders: With Metro ridership at a 30-year high, more and more riders have recently found themselves in threatening situations, transit agency statistics show.

"I think this case could have implications in terms of future Metro policy. I would certainly hope so," said Andrew Schwartz, an attorney for the plaintiffs, who allege physical and emotional trauma. They are seeking an undetermined amount of damages.

According to their complaint, which cites the transit agency's rider rules and driver handbook, the driver's priority is to "determine if a passenger's safety or security is at stake ... Enforcement of the code of conduct is handled through a network of professionals that can be called upon by the bus driver, if and when needed."

But the driver, who is not named in the suit, did not radio for police help, the complaint alleges.

The driver also opened the back door, through which Rollins and Hendershott say they were pulled, even though policy states passengers are to not use the rear door after 7 p.m., according to the suit, which was filed in June 2006.

Rollins testified that she tried to look away in order to deflect the verbal abuse and later shielded her head with her arms as she was slammed to the sidewalk. She said as the youths hit her and yanked her hair, they could certainly be heard by the driver at the front of the coach.

"I never heard the bus driver say anything. I never saw the bus driver do anything. I didn't know where to go, I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel like I had a safe option," she said.

Lee Camardella, a transit-safety consultant and former chief of safety at Metro who testified for the plaintiffs, said that the bus driver should have been aware of the potential for danger before the rowdy group boarded and immediately alerted the dispatcher, or refused to let the youths on.

The driver, 53, testified Thursday that he did not see a beating and was not called on by Rollins and Hendershott that morning to help. He said he did see a large group of people, and that he opened all the bus's doors to let the group off — something operators are directed to do if necessary.

When the bus stopped at South Graham Street, where Rollins and Hendershott say they were beaten, the driver said he could not see what was happening outside the coach in the bus zone because of poor lighting, according to court documents filed by the defense.

The agency could not comment on ongoing litigation, said Metro spokeswoman Thielke.

She did say that in general, bus drivers are trained to follow guidelines in "The Book" — the driver manual kept on each coach. Drivers can use their radio to alert the bus dispatcher and police. In addition, drivers have an emergency button that contacts police directly.

"We tell them not to be police officers," she said of the drivers. "Their job is to drive the public."

But recently, drivers have increasingly found themselves witnessing on-bus assaults. The county's transit system saw a 30 percent increase in passenger-on-passenger assaults — which range from spitting to violence — in 2006 compared with 2005, according to agency statistics. The number climbed from 371 in 2005 to 484 in 2006.

Drivers are increasingly involved in assaults as well, the statistics show.

On Friday, a 50-year-old Seattle man, Ralph Edward Arthurs, was charged with malicious harassment and assault for allegedly brandishing a knife and using racial slurs toward a Metro bus driver on Nov. 9 after the driver lifted Arthurs' wheelchair into his bus.

The King County Sheriff's Office oversees the Metro Transit Police, which patrols buses, routes, the bus tunnel, bus shelters, stops and park-and-rides. The officers respond to calls, patrol where it's most necessary and mostly focus on issues like drinking, swearing and unruly behavior that can quickly escalate into full-blown crimes, especially within the confines of a moving bus, said sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart.

"When you're on a bus, you've got one way in and one way out," said Urquhart, who declined to comment on the civil case.

After they were assaulted, Rollins and Hendershott were treated for bruises and cuts at Harborview Medical Center and released. But the emotional toll continued long after, they say.

Hendershott, now 19, suffered from anxiety, fear and suspicion after the assault, according to doctor testimony and court documents.

Rollins has felt at times anxious, angry and ashamed. She's had difficulty riding the bus, especially at night, and is afraid of groups of people she sees in public. She's become reserved and hypervigilant and was diagnosed with post-traumatic-stress disorder. She's received psychotherapy, chiropractic work and massage to deal with the effects of the assault.

But Rollins said she's begun to look forward again. She's taking college courses and working, and soon she might not have to ride the bus if she doesn't want to.

"I'm getting driving lessons for Christmas," she said.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com