‘No Tresspassing by Order of Metro Transit’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

DCist pointed out this afternoon that WMATA buried the lede in their latest press release, which states:

In the most recent incident, a Metrobus operator refused to allow a customer to exit the bus after a verbal dispute. He was arrested by Metro Transit Police on Saturday, July 25, and charged with kidnapping. The bus operator is on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of an investigation. Metro officials will determine an appropriate level of discipline once the investigation is complete.

First it was sleeping on the job, or reading a book, or texting, and now we’ve seen WMATA employees go from light misdemeanors straight into felony charges. I was sitting here thinking just now that what we really need to see from WMATA drivers, in order to pine for reading, texting and sleeping, is something along the line of kidnapping, or assaulting an off-duty police officer or maybe even light bank robbery. Perhaps what we’re missing is an appreciation for the difficulty of light rule-breaking?

Tom Bridge

I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.