The catchphrase “B*tch Get Off My Bus” being added to vocabularies around the globe and sure… I’m exaggerating about the “globe” thing but you know what I mean.
The incident reportedly occurred September 18, 2012 and?Artis Hughes, 59, was driver of the bus who delivered that fierce uppercut to a 25 year old unruly female passenger by the name of Shi’dea Lane.
[Sidebar: OUCH! It even hurts to watch. 😯 ]
Shi’dea has become somewhat of an internet celebrity after taking the punch like a champ and she recently revealed she’s still feeling it weeks later…
Hughes, a 22 year veteran of the bus line, claims he only struck the woman after she grabbed his throat and spit in his face and while that’s between him and his God, the incident is forever caught on tape…
VIDEO: Bus Driver Uppercuts and Punches Woman & Throws Her Off Bus
Shi?dea Lane, 25, says that bus driver, Artis Hughes, 59, instigated the incident that led to the uppercut watched around the world and she still can?t believe that he hit her.
Lane says that when she got off work on September 18, she boarded a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bus being driven by Hughes. He allegedly thought she didn?t have the bus fare, while she claims that she just needed to find it. From there, words were exchanged and by all appearances, Lane struck Hughes while he was driving the bus.
This led the older man to stop the bus, tell the belligerent passenger, ?You?re going to jail now,? before delivering the vicious blow to Lane?s face, knocking her to the ground. She stood to fight and Hughes grabbed her neck before they were separated by passengers. They exclaimed, ?She?s a female!? To which Hughes responded, ?I don?t care; she want to be a man, I?m gone treat you like a man!?
Shi’dea Lane was recently interview by Fox news and referred to the hit as feeling like something out of Mortal Kombat:
VIDEO: Shi’dea Lane Interview About Bus Incident w/Fox News Affiliate
Bus driver Artis Hughes, 59, was also interviewed by officers shortly after the incident and he states that Lane was the aggressor.
Hughes, a 22-year veteran of the bus line, was suspended from his job after the incident. His employer characterized his behavior as “absolutely unacceptable” but three passengers also described Lane as the incident’s aggressor.
Hughes told cops that Lane initially boarded the bus without paying, claiming, “I left my bookbag.”
Hughes said that after Lane, a restaurant employee, eventually paid her fare, she told him, “You a Bitch and Your Momma’s a Bitch Too!”
She also reportedly stated, “Keep talking about me and I will spit on you!”
According to the smoking gun:
In a written statement, Hughes recalled that Lane “grabbed me in the throat and spit on me in the face.” In response, the driver said he stopped the bus, “and I protected myself.” The Hughes statement does not reveal that he hit Lane squarely in the jaw with a bolo punch that knocked her to the ground.
One witness told cops that a “drunk” Lane “got on the bus fliping out” and “started talking crazy” to Hughes. After spitting on Hughes, the witness wrote in a statement, the driver “did what he had to do.”
A second witness wrote that Lane was “loud and obnoxious” from the start, and spit on Hughes and “started hitting him.” The witness added, “That’s when he hit her back.” A third witness described Lane as “drunk” and reported that “she hit him and he jumped out of his seat and started fighting her.”
Hughes originally wanted to prosecute Lane but a week after the incident, he called a police detective to report that he “did not wish to pursue prosecution of the female suspect.” He subsequently signed a “Refuse to Prosecute Form.”
Lane was not arrested at the scene. In fact, following the confrontation, she was transported to the restaurant where she works by police officers.
Looks like neither of them will be facing charges in this situation.
Was the bus driver cross the line by issuing that UPPERCUT or did the passenger get what she deserved?