Post by KC on Jan 11, 2006 11:13:27 GMT -5
01/11/2006 - BALTIMORE -- A judge sentenced a bus driver for disobeying a police officer, but the driver said she was "just doing her job."
Baltimore police arrested Gloria Braxton after she refused to leave her bus during an incident that, initially, had nothing to do with her.
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter Barry Simms reported a city judge found Braxton guilty of failure to obey the reasonable order of a police officer. The judge also found her not guilty of disorderly conduct.
Simms said the court proceedings stem from an April 18, 2005, incident in which Braxton's bus approached a police incident at the intersection of 25th Street and Greenmount Avenue.
Braxton testified that she had asked an officer to move their cruiser from the roadway so she could continue her route. She said officers told her that she was interfering with police work and they refused.
A passenger aboard the bus testified that there was no place for bus to go except overtop a car.
But police testified that the officers repeatedly asked Braxton to move the bus, and when she refused, they ordered her to get off the bus.
After the court proceedings, Braxton told 11 News the officer "jumped in front of my vehicle and placed his hand on my vehicle and said, 'Don't move this bus because you're under arrest and you better not hit me with your bus.'"
But the judge said Braxton had no legal leg to stand on once police ordered her to move the bus.
The judge sentenced Braxton to a suspended 10-day jail sentence, six months of probation and 16 hours of community service.
The officers involved in this case refused to comment.
Baltimore police arrested Gloria Braxton after she refused to leave her bus during an incident that, initially, had nothing to do with her.
WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter Barry Simms reported a city judge found Braxton guilty of failure to obey the reasonable order of a police officer. The judge also found her not guilty of disorderly conduct.
Simms said the court proceedings stem from an April 18, 2005, incident in which Braxton's bus approached a police incident at the intersection of 25th Street and Greenmount Avenue.
Braxton testified that she had asked an officer to move their cruiser from the roadway so she could continue her route. She said officers told her that she was interfering with police work and they refused.
A passenger aboard the bus testified that there was no place for bus to go except overtop a car.
But police testified that the officers repeatedly asked Braxton to move the bus, and when she refused, they ordered her to get off the bus.
After the court proceedings, Braxton told 11 News the officer "jumped in front of my vehicle and placed his hand on my vehicle and said, 'Don't move this bus because you're under arrest and you better not hit me with your bus.'"
But the judge said Braxton had no legal leg to stand on once police ordered her to move the bus.
The judge sentenced Braxton to a suspended 10-day jail sentence, six months of probation and 16 hours of community service.
The officers involved in this case refused to comment.