INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 49-year-old bus driver suspected of fighting a daycare worker on a bus that had three children inside told the woman, “You blacked my eye. Now I have to black yours,” authorities said.
The woman yelled, “Your mama,” to the man during an argument, which led to the physical altercation, an arrest report shows. The woman’s left eye was swollen shut and about the size of a golf ball after the fight.
Three children who all had disabilities were on the bus at the time of the incident, deputies said.
Earl Hall
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Earl K. Hall, of Fort Pierce, was charged with battery. He was released Wednesday from the Indian River County Jail on $500 bond.
Deputies responded to a disturbance about 5 p.m. Wednesday in the 3600 block of 20th Street. Deputies spoke with Hall, who said he drives the bus for Ryde’s Transport.
Hall told deputies he is responsible for picking up children from the Kids and Nurses PPEC Center, a daycare and health care facility. The woman works at the center, located at 3660 20th Street, an arrest report shows.
The woman told deputies that she and Hall were on the bus when she told him he missed a stop. Hall became angry and the two began to argue. When the woman yelled “Your mama” to Hall, he pulled into a nearby church parking lot and confronted the woman, who was seated in the middle section, deputies said.
The two began to fight in middle of the bus until they made their way to the front, an arrest report shows. The woman stopped after a child on the bus called her name.
When the woman went to comfort the child, Hall grabbed the woman by the shirt and punched her in the left eye, deputies said. Deputies spoke with Hall, who had minor injuries and gave a vague account of the incident.
Deputies arrested Hall and took him to the county jail. Hall has a court arraignment at 8:30 a.m. May 15, court records show.