Police arrest man accused of threatening juvenile with knife during fight on school bus
BY JERRY WOFFORD World Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
9/12/12 at 7:59 AM
A man is in jail on allegations that he forced his way onto a Tulsa Public Schools bus and threatened a juvenile with a knife, police said.
Curtis Monroe, 38, is in the Tulsa Jail. He was arrested Friday on one complaint of assault with a dangerous weapon against a minor. A male juvenile also was arrested, on complaints of obstructing police. He was released to a parent Friday.
Police were summoned about 4:30 p.m. Friday regarding a disturbance on a school bus in the 3300 block of East Woodrow Place. School officials said the bus serves McLain Junior High School, which has faced problems of crowding and fights since classes started last month.
Tulsa police officers learned from witnesses that a fight had broken out on the bus involving several people who had boarded the bus forcibly. The incident stemmed from a brother and sister fighting with another juvenile, according to school officials.
Two people, including Monroe, "forced the door open" on the bus, Officer Leland Ashley said. Monroe pulled out a knife and tried to assault a 14-year-old who was fighting, police alleged.
Ashley said it was unclear what Monroe's relationship was to the juveniles who were fighting.
The bus was then emptied, including those who were fighting, Ashley said.
A juvenile on the other side of the fight from Monroe had a "baseball bat-type stick," but it's unclear whether that juvenile assaulted another student.
Monroe fled the scene when he learned that police were on their way, according to his arrest report. He crossed the street and dropped the knife, witnesses told police. He was found later in the area and arrested, police said.
Tulsa Public Schools spokesman Chris Payne said the conflict between the students started earlier in the day at McLain Junior High School.
A terminal manager, one of four people who supervise all of the district's bus routes, was assigned to the bus to monitor the situation, Payne said, but that manager was called away to another conflict at a different location.
The manager was called back to the bus once the fracas began and when Tulsa police were called.
One of the students was struck with a pipe, Payne said. Ashley said one female juvenile was struck during the altercation.
Payne said the bus driver pushed the intruders off the bus.
Officials later learned that two of the people who boarded the bus during the fight were students at McLain High School.
Payne said there is a history of issues with that bus route.
"There has been bullying and other issues on this particular bus route, and we have had a terminal manager assigned to following it," he said. "The students involved have been suspended from the bus while we investigate the incident, and they may or may not be riding the bus in the future, depending upon what we learn."
Payne said school officials will continue to monitor this and other routes and will assign monitors as needed.
Ashley said parents should exercise restraint in dealing with conflicts on the school bus and avoid taking matters into their own hands. He said parents should contact the school district or its police department if their student is experiencing problems on the bus.
Original Print Headline: Fight on TPS bus results in 2 arrests
Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
tis Monroe: Police say he forced his way onto a McLain Junior High School bus and threatened a juvenile with a knife
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