The Aerie

A man got on my bus at the 38th St LRT station. He seemed off, but I didn't smell alcohol (I had a cold). He couldn't get his transfer in properly. He tried 3 times, and finally I put it in for him. He had an LRT transfer, so he had ridden the train previously.

As I worked my way down to the VA, he came up once to ask where my last stop was. I told him the VA. He then asked if I was going to turn around and go back DT. I said yes. A few blocks later he came up again and asked how to get to Southdale. I told him to transfer to the 515 bus at the VA. Another few blocks later, he came up and asked the quickest way to get DT. I told him to transfer to the LRT at the VA.

When I arrived at the VA, he got off out the front door and walked at least 6-8 feet directly into the shelter. Another man got out the back door. I waited for the man in back to get off, as you cannot move while that door is open. It has an automatic brake on it. Meanwhile, this guy was still in the shelter.

I checked all of my mirrors, and still saw him directly outside my door in the stop, though I had told him to go to his rear and right to get to the LRT.

I also watched the kid in the back get off. I began moving, and was extremely surprised to be flagged down by a man telling me the bus had just run over a man. I ran back, saw the damage to his leg, ran back to the bus to call for emergency, and then returned to the man to comfort him best as I could. His leg was twisted in an unnatural way. The witness, an ex-firefighter, believed it to be a compound fracture.

The man stated that he was sorry, he had fallen. This was on abright, sunny day. The video is unclear. It shows a very quick blur of him almost running toward the rear of the bus. It doesn't look like a fall, but who's to say? How do you fall 8 feet?

I was pretty broke up when I learned of his loss of limb. Prior to that I had assumed he would be able to be patched up, based on what I saw on internet, and what the firefighter had said. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to feel unnecessary guilt, and made some bad decisions of my own.

He just recently had his deposition on the 20th. In it, he admitted to having been drinking, but he stated that he left via the back door, and that I improperly left him off on the street, and took off too soon. None of which is true, and the video shows so.

He recently was on WCCO and he stated that he had ridden the bus because he was probably drunk. Ok, but he had no destination. He changed it 3 times. If he rode the bus because he didn't want to drive because he was too drunk, just where was he going?

He and his attorney also put the blame square on me. Funny thing about it, is the very next day after the story ran, they got the videotape. Wonder what his lawyer is thinking now.

I don't work for the bus company anymore, so you won't be hearing any more bus stories from me. It's not related to the accident. They found me not responsible for it.

I will get into it at a later date. I don't want to say or do anything that might jeopardize this lawsuit.

According to the story, he has been fitted for a prosthetic leg. I am glad that is so. Yet he claims he shouldn't have to be responsible for paying the medical bills.

Guess what? He isn't. He has not worked in 10 years. He is 52 and already on Medical. So, he's not paying a dime. He's also claiming loss of income.

In any case, I hope he does not collect a dime. Yes, I am glad he is getting a leg, and I'm sorry this happened to him, yet I cannot forgive his lying. Especially when he attempts to destroy me professionally in his attempt to get free money.

Oh, and here's the story that ran on WCCO. Note: The story DOES show the exact bus stop, with some folks getting off. Look at it carefully, and try to figure out how someone well inside the actual stop ends up, instead of walking back and to the right, coming directly out to the left to the rear right tire, on a dry day. He was actually all the way in the back of the shelter, when I pulled away.

It is my belief that in his state, he attempted to grab the back door, which will not open once the bus is moving. It is directly in front of the rear tire, and could, other than him deliberately going under the tire, be the only explanation for how his LEFT leg ended up under it. If he was walking to LRT, his RIGHT leg should have been alongside the bus.

The other thing the article states is that he wouldn't get much, even if he won the lawsuit. I would consider $300,000 alot of money.

WCCO picked a really bad case to profile the limit on damages. They would have been much better suited if they had found someone who had won their case rightfully, and was denied full damages. Metro Transit is going to continue to refuse to settle with him.

The fact is, and the video shows, that not only did I wait for some time after he got off to move, due to waiting for the man in the back to get out, but that he was nowhere near the curb.

I don't work for them anymore, but I support them completely.