BUS-TED
Colorado bus driver fired after shocking video shows him SMACK girl, 10, in clash over face mask
VIDEO footage captured a bus driver slapping a 10-year-old girl after she refused to pull her mask over her nose.
Bertram Jacquez, a school bus driver from Fremont County, Colorado, was fired from his job following the video's release, and is now facing misdemeanor charges of harassment, assault causing injury, and child abuse.
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The April 12 incident began when Jacquez overheard an argument over mask wearing among children at the back of his bus.
A spat had broken out after a girl insisted that her mask made her "get sick," to the protestations of other children on the bus, according to the girl's written statement, .
As the driver approached, she tried to pull her mask up over her nose, but apparently too slowly, as she was met with a slap in the face.
She then demanded that she be let off the bus, but the driver refused.
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A surveillance camera video taken from the bus corroborates the girl's story.
After facing backlash from video's release, Jacquez insisted that the child "just would not listen," and went on to admit "out of reaction, I slapped her once."
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The school district's swift response to the incident was accompanied by a written statement asserting, "We believe it is never okay to lay a hand on a child."
"We are very saddened by this incident," the statement continues.
"We are currently working to identify next steps to help our drivers with strategies designed to support a safe ride to and from school."
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