Bus beating videotaped
Two boys face assault charges for attack on 10-year-old
PUBLISHED: June 20, 2006
By Norb Franz
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Two New Baltimore seventh-graders await a pretrial hearing in the beating of a 10-year-old classmate aboard their school bus -- an incident captured on videotape.
The video shows
two boys, ages 13 and 14, taunting and teasing Chester Gala on their way home from Anchor Bay Middle School North. After finger-pointing and shoving, the 13-year-old stood up and punched the
intellectually advanced Chester, also a seventh-grader, several times.
"He's twice the victim's size," Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said Monday. "It's really sickening to watch."
The incident
, which occurred for a few seconds Friday, May 12, ended when the bus driver ordered the 13-year-old to stop.
Chester suffered a bloodied nose, a bump and red marks to his face, and complained of head pain.
School officials reviewed the videotape and interviewed the boys when they returned to classes the following Monday, May 15.
Principal Tim Brisbois suspended the 13-year-old for an undisclosed term and the student did not return prior to classes being dismissed for the summer June 14.
It was not immediately clear what, if any, action was taken by the schools against the 14-year-old.
"There was a clear victim here. It was pretty clear cut," Brisbois said.
According to a New Baltimore police report obtained by The Macomb Daily under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Chester Gala told police he was looking behind him on the bus when one of the other boys
told him to turn around. Chester replied that he didn't have to, and the older classmates began t
hreatening him.
Police said Chester tried to block the attacker's hands near his face, before the teen shoved Chester in the face and mid-section, according to the report.
The attacker handed a paper and pencil to the 14-year-old boy seated behind him, got out of his seat and on top of Chester, held him down on his chest, and punched him several times, reports and officials said.
Chester quoted the older teen as saying afterward, "That made my day."
The bus driver reported the altercation via radio to the district's transportation director. That administrator asked the driver if she needed police or EMS assistance.
The driver, whose name was not released, asked the 13-year-old for his name as he got off the bus, but the youth ignored the request.
Chester's father, Eric Gala, told NBC's "Today" program on Monday that he was very upset after viewing the tape showing his son being punched.
"I want the whole world to see this tape. I want every parent to realize that when you put your child on the bus, there is a concern for their safety," he said.
Safety, said Anchor Bay Schools Superintendent Leonard Woodside, is the reason most buses in the district's fleet are equipped with video cameras. He said the devices are very conspicuous and record the students.
"It has helped us tremendously in reducing misbehavior on the bus," Woodside said. "We were able to get to the bottom of this because we had videotape on the bus."
The district, which has approximately 6,800 students, began installing cameras about eight years ago and rotated them among buses, the superintendent said. Now, nearly all of the approximately 45 buses have the cameras. The cameras are activated when the vehicle's ignition is turned on and record continuously until the bus is turned off or the tape is ejected.
"Having the cameras prevents the 'he said, she said' kind of thing," Woodside said.
"The camera tells the truth.
"
The 13-year-old faces one count of aggravated assault, a 1-year misdemeanor; and the 14-year-old is charged with misdemeanor assault. The Macomb Daily is not publishing their names because they are charged as juveniles (or niggers). Both await a pretrial hearing in Macomb County Juvenile Court.
"For the defendants to say the victim was acting up or asking for it, it's ludicrous," Smith said.
School officials said the veteran bus driver, who did not immediately stop the bus as she drove on County Line Road between Green Street and 25 Mile Road upon noticing the fight, acted properly.
"The driver has to ensure the safety of all students," Woodside said. "To say come to an immediate stop in the middle of traffic, it's one of those situations -- it's a judgment call."
Peer mediation and other efforts to prevent bullying don't always work, the district's top administrator said.
"At times, young people are going to make poor dec
isions, as happened here," he added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The attackers are either niggers or white trash, and jealous of Chester's being so smart. I thought I read somewhere Chester was advanced and skipped a couple of grades?
