An alleged assault between a Hamilton woman and what appears to be a Hamilton Street Railway bus driver is making the rounds on Facebook.
A concerned Hamilton mother and student is speaking out after witnessing what calls an assault by an HSR bus driver.
The alleged incident began when Sierra Johnson, a 19 year old post-secondary student, tried to board at Jackson Square around 1:40 Tuesday afternoon and was allegedly denied bus service for not having her student ID to go with her bus pass.
Johnson says a second woman was denied service for the same reason.
She says the driver asked for two student bus tickets or 30 cents each in order to ride and that both she and the other woman complied.
According to Johnson, who was taking her one-and-a-half year old son to the doctor, she chose to stand to allow others to sit, but the driver refused to move the bus until she sat down.
After that, she says the driver missed the stop of an elderly woman who needed to get off the bus.
She then used her cell phone to make a report to HSR, only to have the driver allegedly yell at her to “get off the effing phone” and end the call.
It was at this point that Johnson alleges the driver stopped the bus, exited, and called HSR herself.
She says the second woman who did not have her student ID then got off the bus and confronted the driver for making her late to work.
During this confrontation, the driver allegedly grabbed the woman by hair and proceeded to “whip her around”.
Johnson says she is aware of the rules regarding student bus passes and ID cards, but that she’s only had an issue with this particular driver during her time at school.
She says that if the rule is going to be enforced, all drivers should enforce it to avoid confusion.
Hamilton Street Railway Communication Officer Jasmine Graham tells CKTB news they have been made aware of the incident between an HSR Operator and one of their customers and are currently investigating the matter.